Data is a valuable resource in any organization, whether big or small. It is, therefore, very important to manage effectively this valuable resource in a manner that suits the organization. The method of operation should operate within the confines of the various laws and regulations that govern the organization as well as those that protect the rights of both those that work in the organization and those that work with the organization.
The process of data resource management involves coming up with and implementing policies, rules, guidelines and practices that would enable the most effective and efficient management of the Organization's data. Some of the major benefits of properly managing data are that the data will easily be accessible by researchers since the data will be easy to access or will encourage those who need to refer to them to always revisit (Debbie). This in return will promote better science and bolster productivity of the organization and most importantly the data will be properly preserved and will form the history of the organization.
The first stage in managing data is to convert all the data into a suitable yet uniform data form that would enable easy creation of a database and subsequently the establishment of an effective database management system (DBMS). With a database management system in place, data access levels should be created so as to limit what data can be accessed by persons of what capacity in the organization. If the data is in a server or servers, permissions can put in place to allow the terminals to access only certain information depending on the rank and the work a person does within the organization. This will ensure that the junior-most employees don’t go snooping around for information about their colleagues when they don’t need such data in their course of duty. That would enable the organization preserves the privacy of the members.
The database management system is to have a backup system which also archives files that are not so regularly referred to. (Debbie)The administrator is to be appointed to manage the database, by assigning and modifying permissions where necessary and most importantly updating and ensuring that the database is properly maintained.
Having a database management system that also manages meta-data would be very critical in the running of the organization. Metadata is data about other data, and it is very important to have Meta data management especially when the organization has a very large volume of data to manage.
Having a data model for the information system (database) would improve access to data especially by auditors and other financial experts because data is structured in a formal way that is standard, and this would encourage transparency in the organization and as such an organization would be in full compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the other relevant laws. Various modeling methodologies can be employed in the management of the information system depending on the forms and types of data that an organization operates but the objective is the same.
Access rights as referred above herein as ‘permissions’ as simply restrictions on which data can be accessed by persons of what rank in the organization. This assists in preserving the privacy of the members of the organization.
There are issues that may arise during the processes of data capture and/or during conversions and the major issues are normally those of quality. When converting data directly from one form to another, depending on the equipment used, more often than not, there is usually a decrease in the quality of the converted output. Other serious issues that may arise are those of incompatibility that also more often than not results in depreciation of quality. Legal issues may also arise and top of which could be the breach of a customer’s rights to privacy, this means that regardless of the system used, security measures ought to be put in place to prevent customers’ data from leaking to the public and or used for purpose not intended for by the customer (The White House).
There are several of systems that can be employed in data management and these include TPS, DSS and CRM among others. TPS – Transaction Processing Systems, which is a method of computing that, involves breaking down the processes into indivisible portions known as transactions. DSS – Decision Support System is a computer based system that supports decision making processes. The CRM – Customer Relationship Management system is used for tracking marketing and manages campaigns on various communication channels including social media (Information Commissioner's Office). An organization can use a number of these systems together or individually depending on the data needs of the organization but the only aspect to take care of is that of operating within the confines of the law and safeguarding the privacy rights of the persons whose data is captured by the system (The White House).
References
Debbie, Terry. "Importance of Data Management." Creating a Research Project Data (2009): 1-15.
Information Commissioner's Office. "Data protection." Personal information online code of practice (2011): 1-23.
The White House. "Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World." A FRAFramework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy (2012): 1-62.
