Data Management 101
Let’s start at the most basic, foundational element of data management: What is data?
Many businesses struggle when accessing, finding, mining, cleaning and organizing data about their business.
We help a lot of businesses using SharePoint, Salesforce, and Power BI and other enterprise tools, and almost always, they need help migrating, mining and cleaning their data.
But what kind of data are these customers really looking for to transform their business? All of them want faster access to accurate data so they can make quicker and more accurate decisions. Here we take a quick look at three types of data for better data management.
Types of Data for Better Data Management
Bad Data – Several companies we worked with have Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. A CRM is software that keeps track of your customer and prospect information, like Salesforce. Sometimes the information in the system gets unorganized. For whatever reason, the data in the CRM cannot be trusted. The phone numbers don’t match with the right customers. Address fields are not lined up and the information cannot be trusted.
This is bad data. The test to determine if you have bad data is to ask yourself, “Would I make a major business decision based on this data?” If the answer is no, you might need help cleaning your data.
Good Data – Good data is accurate; it can’t be faulty. It’s got to be true data and it reflects what happened in the real world. If you hired a new employee and his name is Jonathan, your human resources records, and all other records need to state that the new employee’s name is Jonathan. Not Jon or Jonathon.
Obviously, good data is the opposite of bad data. It’s data that is clean and accurate. Think of the CRM again. All fields are lined up and it can be trusted. But this is not the best form of data. Information can be accurate, but if it’s difficult to find and analyze then it is not going to do very much for you.
If the goal is to analyze your data to see trends and make decisions, the data needs to be accessible and visual.
HingePoint Data – This isn’t just a shameless plug for our business; you do need more than just good data. Let us explain.
A hinge point is a point where things change. A HingePoint is a point where something literally pivots. It’s the turning point where you are going to see a significant change take place.To get HingePoint data it needs to be good, accurate and visual data. The goal of Hinge Point Data is to give you the insights that revolutionize and transform your business.
Data is accurate, clean and can be trusted about a particular subject. But you need to be able to easily compare and contrast this data. Data helps us understand what is really going on, then we can make more informed decisions. It can help you make predictions and forecasts by understanding the trends of your business.
Below you can learn more about why you don’t have clean data, what’s data mining, why is data visualization important.
4 Reasons You Can’t Get the Business Data You Want or Need
We see many reasons our customers don’t have the data they want or need to better run their business. But here we talk about the four most common reasons we see when consulting customers on the best ways to get control of their data.
Read Full Chapter4 Reasons You Don’t Have Clean Data
We want to keep track of important information that will make us smarter about our business. When we work with a new customer that wants to fix their SharePoint or Salesforce, we inevitably find that their data is not clean. Here’s why.
Read Full ChapterWhat is Data Mining?
Data mining is looking at a lot of data and trying to get valuable information out of it. But what’s the difference between data mining in Fortune 10 companies and small to medium sized businesses?
Read Full ChapterWhat is Data Visualization?
Many businesses are still creating reports and comparing and contrasting business trends with PDFs exported from Excel instead of using the latest data visualization tools.
But what is data visualization?
Read Full Chapter3 Reasons You Should Quit Managing Data with Spreadsheets
The Autodesk App Exchange is an impressive new innovation that showcases just how open and extensible the Autodesk products can be. The app exchange is full of plugins by 3rd party developers developed for all the Autodesk software. Chapter 5 provides a quick guide on what you can find in the Apps store.
Read Full ChapterHow to Control Human Resource Employee Data
Accurate, up-to-date human resource employee data is crucial for your business. Simple mistakes can lead to big problems. Here’s how.
Read Full ChapterThe Oversimplified Data Management Workflow
If you are just starting to get your feet wet with better data management workflow for your business, here are three key aspects of data that you should consider while creating accurate reports on your KPIs.
Read Full ChapterData Management Strategy Evaluation with HingePoint
Here are some key questions to ask yourself on whether you have control of your data.
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