Files strangely vanish, funny messages pop up on the screen and your mouse suddenly stops working for no explainable reason. Nodding your head in agreement I imagine. Seen this happen on your own computer?
It’s always easy to blame the computer for what appears on the screen – meaningless information or moments of ‘the computer says no’.
The problem is, your computer only knows about the things you tell it. It behaves according to what buttons are pressed, outcomes are produced solely on the information you provide it.
Your computer is vulnerable to acts of nature and man. It cannot run away, for example, in case of fire or flood. Nor can it protect itself from the incompetence or lack of concentration from its operator.
Data quality is a factor underappreciated by people, it is expected that the technology will take care of things. Poor quality of data will cost your business money, but using poor quality data does not have to be a part of doing business.
Talking to a farmer at a recent party he told me a story about a cow he had sold at market. In an industry becoming more regulated, he is responsible for keeping detailed records on his stock of animals.
After being sold at market for nearly a thousand pounds it turned out his detailed records were wrong, he had wrongly recorded the sex of his animal. This simple clerical error resulted in the beast being destroyed, the money lost.
The initial business process of creating the cow’s record might have been simplified or automated by computer, but it would not have helped. Automating a process based on inaccurate information only makes the process more effective at producing the mistake.
In your own business what might the effect of inaccurate data be? The best case scenario might be an order that needs refunding or a customer lost. What if data inaccuracies caused injury or a loss of life within your team? What about the general public?
Any business dealing with electronic data should make sure the data they have is as accurate as possible. If you put garbage in, the only thing you’ll get back out is garbage. Good business decisions need good data.