Home > Data Management All-in-One Guides > Data quality management and governance tutorial > Data quality mgmt. best practices > What is high quality information?
All-in-One Guides: Data quality management and governance tutorial:
EMAIL THIS
 START   DATA QUALITY MGMT. BEST PRACTICES   DATA QUALITY MGMT. SOFTWARE   DATA GOVERNANCE TRENDS AND ADVICE   
Data quality mgmt. best practices

<< PREVIOUS | NEXT >>: Data quality and governance management quiz

What is high quality information?

David Loshin EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: David Loshin

Pose a Question
Other Data Management Categories
Meet all Data Management Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Tips, expert advice and sample chapters
Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 20 December 2007
What is your definition of high quality information? Does the success of an organization depend upon access to high quality information?

>
EXPERT RESPONSE
My answer to this is will take a little detour, but we will get to some form of a definition: In any business environment, the quality of the data is related to the ways that the data sets are used. Impacts to the achievement of business objectives cause by flawed data reflect the operational requirements for asserting the quality of the data, and this is defined in terms of information policies imposed by the business applications based on what they expect from the data in order to avoid those negative impacts. However, what is defined as high quality in one environment may be irrelevant in another environment, and that is what makes an objective (and context-independent) definition of high quality information so challenging. Ultimately, the definition must be specified within each environment in terms of how well the information conforms to the business applications' information policies.

However, you asked about information, and not just data, and that complicates the question a bit more, since we can assert rules about data value formats, structures, completeness, etc., but the word "information" conveys not just the data values, but also the understanding and perception of how that data is used within the numerous business processes. Therefore, one way to define information quality is the assurance that the information meets the needs of the consuming business processes.

When information quality is high, the business processes (and not specifically the applications implementing those processes!) run they way they are supposed to run, without significant effort expended on issue detection, diagnosis and correction. Given that, when information quality is high, time is spent doing what is supposed to be done, and when information quality is low, time is spent on figuring out how to get done what is supposed to be done. Successful organizations achieve their business objectives in the most optimized manner, and therefore, I would say that maintaining "high quality" information is at least one success factor for any organization.

More on data and information quality

  • Learn How to maintain data quality and provide high quality information management and analysis
  • Take a Data quality and governance management quiz
  • Browse through the comprehensive data quality and governance tutorial


  • Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


    << PREVIOUS | NEXT >>: Data quality and governance management quiz
    VIEW ALL IN THIS CATEGORY

    RELATED CONTENT
    Data governance and quality
    Data quality management tools: Where to get unbiased information
    Roles and salaries of data quality and governance analysts
    The role of data governance in unstructured data
    How to maintain data quality and provide high quality information management and analysis
    Data quality management pitfalls: Three common mistakes to avoid
    Data governance: Tips for techies and managers
    Data cleansing: The business impact of dirty data
    Data quality management begins with data governance
    Troubleshooting: Performing an insert with DB2 z/OS
    Data governance: How to maximize data stewardship

    Data quality best practices
    Integration competency centers centralize data integration projects
    Informatica to buy identity resolution software maker for $85 million
    Information assurance: Dependability and security of networked information systems
    Data governance success: No pain, no gain
    Data migration evolves from scripts to software
    Data quality programs: A common sense approach
    Data quality and governance management quiz
    Thirteen causes of enterprise data quality problems
    Data profiling tool pays off for mortgage risk intelligence firm
    Roles and salaries of data quality and governance analysts

    Data quality mgmt. best practices
    Information assurance: Dependability and security of networked information systems
    Data quality and governance management quiz
    Thirteen causes of enterprise data quality problems
    How to maintain data quality and provide high quality information management and analysis
    Data quality management pitfalls: Three common mistakes to avoid
    How to develop and maintain an enterprise data quality management strategy, with Larry English
    Five steps for weaving data quality management into your enterprise data integration processes
    Data quality management: Problems and horror stories
    Data quality management: Follow the doctor's orders
    Data quality assurance

    RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
    Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
    data  (SearchDataManagement.com)
    data governance  (SearchDataManagement.com)
    data quality  (SearchDataManagement.com)
    data scrubbing  (SearchDataManagement.com)
    fixed data  (SearchDataManagement.com)
    raw data  (SearchDataManagement.com)

    RELATED RESOURCES
    2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
    Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
    Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary



    Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
    Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
    Browse our Expert Advice

    About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
    SEARCH 
    TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of technology-specific Web sites, events and magazines.

    TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Reprints  |  Site Map




    All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2005 - 2008, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
      TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts