The identification of critical data elements is a data governance practice that helps organizations prioritize IT work that improves revenue and product quality. Critical data often describes the parameters within which work must be performed. Critical data varies by industry, but examples include policy terminations or delivery addresses.
What do I need to know about critical data?
The identification of critical data elements is a data governance practice that helps organizations prioritize IT work that improves revenue and product quality. Critical data often describes the parameters within which work must be performed. Critical data varies by industry, but examples include policy terminations or delivery addresses.
What are the benefits of critical data?
Critical data must be managed to prevent business disruption and loss of revenue. Conversely, proper governance of critical data can maximize revenue, customer satisfaction, and operational cost-efficiency.
What are the challenges of critical data?
As part of an information management practice, organizations should identify critical data elements and define them. Definitions can help with data validation by describing the essential components of data. For example, a rate plan could be a critical data element that varies by customer. A definition would describe how a customer’s rate should be stored as data, and might also note whether the rate plan is changeable. Unacceptable variances in critical data should trigger action to repair data. Commercial solutions are available to help identify and define critical data to smooth downstream operational processes.
