How mature is your data management?

Before diving into this week’s newsletter, I have some things to promote:

I’m speaking on Maximising value from your data quality initiatives along with the lovely people from Datactics. The premise is that many firms are investing in data technology but finding that it’s not enough to deliver better data, because they need to manage the people element as well.

Wednesday 28 June from 1630 in London followed by drinks, canapes and networking. Register here.

Are you hosting a data event, webinar or get together?

I am creating the Datazed of Data Events so that the data community can easily find out what's coming up.

1. It's not just for big events, but is also open to small get-togethers, webinars and anything else you can imagine.

2. There are no restrictions on geography. A webinar on the other side of the world could be ideally timed for someone to join early morning or late evening.

3. These aren't just events for senior execs either. Let's also share the events that are open to those on their career journey.

• Register your event here

• View the calendar (admittedly, not too much there yet) here

Finally, I’m attending the CogX Festival at The O2 on 12-14 September, and I’ve been given a special code for a complimentary Expo & Networking Pass (currently £45 for the early bird deal, then it goes up to £95).

The code is EXJUBCSD12. You are free to share this code, but it’s only valid until 30 June.

Now on to the article!

I don’t recall meeting anyone who told me that their company is on top of the data. They are not saying that their data is all of good quality; that they can find it easily; that it's all really organised; and that everything just works.

However, I don't think that there are any companies that are entirely useless at handling data For better or worse, firms still make money, charities and public sector organisations still deliver benefits to society, and both still employ people.

So, if we are going to improve the data environment at your place, then we need to diagnose where the ailments are and prescribe a solution, which will most likely be driven by people (medical analogy - you need to follow the plan); process (medical analogy - do specific exercises or physio); and tools (medical analogy - take these drugs).

In our world, we call this a Data Maturity Assessment.

The purpose of a data maturity assessment is not to measure how good data is. Rather, it is to understand the organisation’s ability to manage data effectively.

There are several models for doing this such as DAMA-DMBOK, EDM and Stanford, and they consider each aspect of data management in detail.

The Datazed Stages of Excellence maturity model, which I created for use with my clients, is a simplified assessment model which focuses on the elements of a data framework which are most relevant to your organisation, and can be scored without significant measurement activity.

This lets the business rapidly understand their maturity and how it varies across teams and functions.

Outputs are expressed as scores (e.g. 3.2 out of 5 for Data Ownership) and organisations will work towards a target score.

The secret tip which you really need to know is:

You do not need to work towards the highest level of maturity in every element of data management.

Getting top scores everywhere makes you the "class swot", and who wants to be that?

More likely, you'll be considering three scores:

• Where you are currently

This will vary across teams, so a firm-wide score is less helpful than seeing the range of scores across teams and functions.

• Where you need to get to

This might be driven by a regulator, or your internal audit function.

• Where you would like to get to

Consider that a certain level of investment will be needed to meet the minimum standard, but investing a little extra could turn this from a tick-box activity to a value-add one.

If you are using a project or programme to get your data activities to where they need to be, then starting and ending with this type of assessment is very helpful as it gives a simple way to demonstrate improvements.

Moreover, when the project is complete and data is managed under BAU (business as usual) activity, a regular assessment (typically six-monthly or annual) provides an indicator if standards are slipping.

You also have the ability to focus on particular areas of data governance or the wider area of data management. Company A may want to see that Data Culture has improved; Company B may only be interested in the cost savings that come from the associated process efficiencies.

Have you been part of a Data Maturity Assessment? How did you find it? Reply to this email or comment below the web version.

Contact Datazed about kicking off your own assessment, so you too can have happy users of data.

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Have a wonderful week,
Charles