If your data cannot be trusted, it is useless at best and downright harmful at worst. Senior Manager Karyn Thomas of BDO Australia emphasizes the need to have proof of the trustworthiness of the data that is being relied upon. ‘Gut Feel’ and ‘Blind Faith’ should be thrown out the window when speaking about data, she asserts.

Thomas outlines the processes by which the high data quality could be maintained in this article from BDO Australia.

Data quality can be improved as a once-off, but the real benefits come when regular processes are put in place, particularly for critical data.

Some of those that should be in place are:
• Regular reviews embedded into reporting systems, so issues can be identified and potentially corrected as near to real-time as possible
• An independent annual review of the key metrics used in data quality reporting, the assumptions made in determining them and the credibility of trends in the data from the previous review
• Targeted periodic deep-dives into specific datasets that may need it (e.g. from a new or significantly changed system).

Maintaining high data quality is important to organizations, because it underpins and impacts on critical business systems. For example: Business intelligence, data warehousing, customer relationship management, inventory management and supply chain management. It is one of the most important responsibilities for Chief Data Officers and is an essential part of good governance and data management practices.

There are a number of frameworks and approaches to maintaining data quality, but checks on accuracy, completeness, validity, consistency, timeliness and availability of the data will usually be included.