One of the often quoted examples (challenges) over business definitions is the case of gaining a common definition of the term “Customer” within an organisation. This can result in lengthy debate over whether a customer is the person who pays
Would you allow this…?
One of the greatest factors which can lead to the degradation of quality of information relates to the behavior of users, data administrators and external parties. I have referred to this in a previous post “There is no such thing
Making performance improvement real
Last week I visited Haldex Concentric in Birmingham who manufacture pumps for commercial vehicle engines. They are shortlisted for an award at the Midlands Excellence Awards, to be announced this week. They have instigated a continuous improvement approach to improving
Why application based user groups do not work
Many larger organisation with enterprise wide applications set up user groups to promote application usage, to help resolve system issues and to help plan future enhancements to the application. These groups, in my experience, do not deliver suitable business benefits
Business Intelligence without Data Quality
I have just caught up in reading a recent supplement to the Times newspaper entitled “Business Intelligence“. As is often the case for such supplements, this is sponsored ‘advertorial’ content paid for by some of the key software providers in
Enigma and Bletchley Park – Lessons for today
I went to a lecture by Dr. Mark Baldwin yesterday on the Enigma encryption machine used by Germany during World War 2 and the work of Bletchley Park in breaking the Enigma codes. The successful breaking of the codes has
Similarities between data quality issues and computer security security approaches?
I went to a very informative presentation last night by Professor Mark Ryan of Birmingham University. He is a specialist in computer security and the pitfalls of different approaches to computer architecture. It was a thought provoking presentation, particularly Mark’s
There is no such thing as a data quality problem…
Over the last couple of days I have presented at a couple of conferences on the subject of Asset Information Management. When discussing with a delegate on Tuesday the nature of data quality problems, they asked: Are data quality problems
Are you a data quality ostrich?
I am frequently surprised when I encounter data quality ostriches i.e. organisations that put their heads in the sands of data and hope that all will be well. If you have spent any time looking at the different facets of
The art of communication is dead….
It could be argued that the art of communication is dead – many people who are awash with emails, tweets, social networking messages would probably disagree. However, this deluge of communication is not always effective – some people appear to