By Chetan
In this data driven world, storing and managing data is an integral part of any business. How well a company manages its data determines the functioning of the company and its future growth. Irrespective of the size and scale, a proper data management strategy is needed for all companies. Thankfully there are many companies that have come up with state-of-the-art data management solutions and tools that make data management easy and goal oriented. Driven by laws and regulations, Environmental, Social and Governance strategies are equally important and Data Management makes adhering to these norms much more easy.
Golden rule of Data management
Data is like a high-value business asset and once managed well it is the perfect key to successful reporting. Business goals can easily be achieved with the power of effective data management and further leveraging the same to drive business goals. Data management requires a well-oiled process of collecting, validating and storing data. The first step towards drafting a return-oriented data management strategy is to ascertain the data required for the company and its desired goals. To have a process in place is equally important. And the process for collecting and sorting Big Data should be user-friendly and timely with built in automation that will enable easy retrieval. To narrow down on the right technology for data management is equally important.
There are many advanced data management solutions and tools available today which makes data handling easy and automatic. The final and perhaps the most important step is to establish effective data governance. The bigger the data gets, it becomes more important to create and communicate policies and procedures for proper data usage. The quality of data collected should be accurate, complete and secure from all angles. Data of any company is their biggest asset and should be made secure at all times and situations. Companies and institutes should make sure that their Data security protocol must comply not only with their data governance standards, ESG protocols but also with relevant laws and regulations of that country around the use, storage, and transmission of data.
Power of Big Data
Data can very well be like a double-edged sword. While Big Data can and should be leveraged to drive marketing modules and drive expansion and strategic growth, mismanaged data can be a useless dump without any returns. While storing data, it is very important that companies successfully minimize data silos with single-owner dependencies. While storing Big Data, care should be taken to integrate disparate datasets across functions and variables. Having set the storage and categorization in place, one of the greatest advantages of data management is seamless reporting and the power of data analysis. Nowday’s data management systems also include data reporting tools which make retrieving data, analyzing the same and pulling out the desired report an easy task. The retrieval tools are a blessing for companies as it allows easy and flexible reporting. These reports can easily be formulated, sorted, summarized and calculated as desired. Reporting and business analysis are the ultimate goal of any Big Data and data management solutions make these possible in a seamless manner. And hence we see a much improved and accurate forecasting, analyzing and planning in businesses. This is only going to improve further with technological advancements and it is only fair for companies to ride on the benefits that technology has to offer.
In conclusion, a strategic data management system is the base of proper ESG reporting. Centralizing Big Data, monitoring the same and analyzing are critical components to drive a company’s drive towards sustainable growth. A successful data management strategy is one that ensures high-quality data availability and near instant successful reporting. If data is power, data management is super power.
(The author is Chetan, Co-Founder and CEO at Sustainext, and the views expressed in this article are his own)
