Four things data harmony can do for your organization
There are four specific cases in which data synchrony can drive success (and data dissonance can hold you back):
Integrations
If you’ve ever tried to have a conversation with someone who speaks a different language, you’ll have an easy time grasping the issue here. When data isn’t aligned — say a specific data point is called X in one system and Y in another — those two systems can’t effectively communicate with one another.
At that point, to properly integrate those two systems, you’ll need to either clean the data so it matches or create mapping tables in between (i.e., essentially translating X to Y). In short, data harmony is the key to integration here.
Searchability
If your organization has taken a data lake approach, success relies on being able to retrieve what you need when you need it from that lake. If you haven’t built a level of data synchrony by creating an underlying common taxonomy, this will be a struggle.
Also, in many cases, if data isn't taxonomy-driven, then the same information can be described in different ways (e.g., United States, US, USA, U.S.A, United States of America). This makes find-ability nearly impossible.
Analytics and reporting
As customers increasingly expect a holistic experience, it’s important to sync data across departments and channels. If you don’t have data harmony, you won’t be able to get the analytics you need to improve customer journeys, create up and cross-selling efficiencies, or seize (let alone see) other opportunities.
Time to market
Data dissonance can create bottlenecks or added feedback loops that slow your ability to get things out. You might not be able to syndicate to ecommerce channels quickly if your data isn’t clean, for example.
How to harmonize your data
This all begs the question: how do you create data harmony across your enterprise? We have five steps to follow to get your data in tune.
Build a plan
If you’re hungry for data synchrony, it can be tempting to jump headfirst into your data lake to get it sorted out. Resist that temptation. Pause first and make a game plan.
This plan should include two key components:
- Priorities. Identify where your organization will see the biggest benefit from increased data synchrony. Starting with small wins can help you build enough momentum to keep the project going as it scales out across the enterprise.
- Executive sponsorship. Taking on this project will require time and resources. Unless you want to burn the midnight oil to keep it moving, you’ll need buy-in from your leaders.
Essentially, you should treat this like any other business-critical initiative.
Assemble an internal team
The whole issue of data dissonance arises because people work in silos and data owners aren’t assigned (or, if they are assigned, are often scattered). So trying to tackle it in silos won’t get you anywhere. Gather up internal players who represent all of the applicable departments. Ideally, this is when you create your data governance team.
Bring in outside help
External experts can streamline and simplify the process for you. You could bring in data governance experts, for example, who can help you make the right decisions during the process. The data synchrony choices you make will have lasting business impact. Expert guidance can keep you on the right path.
Zoom out
Be mindful of the implications of this project. A number of systems likely rely on the data you’ll be working to harmonize, and you’ll probably need to adjust those systems as part of this project.
You might choose to go with an enterprise solution to model your knowledge graphs and integrate them with all of your systems, then manage them within each system using a sync effort. If this sounds like a lot of work, it’s because it is. But getting a look at the bigger picture means you’ll be able to realize the highest possible return on harmonizing your data.
Maintain momentum
Data synchrony isn’t a project you finish. Once you get done with the initial harmonization, develop and implement a process across your organization to maintain and scale your data models over time. As your business grows and its needs change, it’s important to know how you’ll add new attributes, adjust taxonomies, and more.
Fortunately, there are tools and experts to help you here. The key is to get your data synced with consistent metadata and taxonomies in a central location.
