In my last posting, I wrote about how we often talk about managing data as an asset, but that one of the major barriers to actually doing so is the difficulty in putting a monetary value on the data.

A somewhat more tangible, if no less complex issue, is that the processes and tools for managing data as an asset are often not in place. Data governance is often defined in terms of managing data as an asset, and this discipline, while still nascent, is evolving rapidly. Many companies have started to define and standardize on data governance processes, as well as formalize data governance roles such as data stewards. But we’re a long way from maturity here.

Moreover, the technology infrastructure that underpins these processes is still inadequate in most organizations. Examples of some of the typical gaps:

• It can take an inordinate amount of IT effort just to access the data in some legacy systems—that’s if you can even find the data you need in the first place. If you can’t get to your asset, it has no value.
• The different business applications in a company have different technical requirements for how they consume the same data. In theory, data should be the ultimate reusable asset. But if you can’t reuse it, are you getting the value you should?
• Ideally the business is supposed to be responsible for data quality, but what is the state-of-the-art tool for them to analyze and cleanse data? Right now, usually spreadsheets. Do you have the means to add value to your asset?
• There is no method for technically enforcing policies around data quality, privacy, etc. How can you protect your assets if you can’t enforce policies for it?

If organizations say that data is one of their most valuable assets, they need to start walking the walk. They need to actually invest in the processes and people to formalize data management, and they need to update their technology infrastructure to support those processes. At Informatica, we say that companies who are walking the walk by making these investments are “data driven”. (We didn’t coin this term– Thomas Redman has an excellent book called Data Driven, which discusses many of these concepts.)

You’ll be seeing more in the future on this concept of “data driven” with the Informatica 9 launch. Stay tuned.