Data management consists of all efforts aimed towards achieving and preserving the accuracy and reliability of data. Reliability is in the way of its ability to guide the decision-making process of an organization. Aspects of data management include data cleaning and data security. An organization may also aim to reconcile all of its data into a single cohesive system that governs the operations of the organization.
Data Cleansing
Sometimes, a database may get corrupted resulting in inaccurate, and, therefore, unreliable data. That raises the need for a data cleansing system. Various companies offer data cleansing services to both private and commercial entities. The process involves deleting, correcting, and modifying data in a bid to restore it to its previous state. Usually, an accurate set of data is used as a control to establish and correct the deviation of a given set of data.
Following a successful cleansing operation, the previously corrupted files should display consistent patterns to those of similar or identical data sets. Care has to be taken to differentiate data cleaning from data validation. The latter is concerned with establishing the reliability of data at the point of entry. The data may then be accepted or rejected based on how well it matches the entry requirements.
Data Security
It is mainly related to digital data. It refers to all the measurements put in place to protect data against unlimited access and modification, possible corruption and data breach. Whereas technology has provided an efficient method of data management, the solution came with a risk of malicious data access. That means an organization’s database and servers may be accessed by unauthorized third parties if not well protected.
Organizations have invested heavily in ensuring the security of their data to prevent such occurrences. For example, different employees may be provided with different levels of access to an organization’s data. The nature and magnitude of the data that a given employee can access may be pegged to their position and job description in the company.
Management Information Systems
Information management systems may be considered to be any tools that offer support to the processes and operations in an organization. The tools facilitate the seamless integration of the various functions of an organization so that information flows smoothly from one point to another within an organization. A good MIS should enable the generation of comprehensive and cohesive reports at all levels of an organization.
The reports may be generated at regular time intervals such as daily, weekly, and monthly. That is because they do not require the rigorous efforts that would otherwise be necessary to physically compile, classify, and compare data to prepare a report. MIS has nullified the need for organizations to maintain physical files. Additionally, reports no longer need to be printed and reproduced to be shared with the various departments in an organization.
Data is a valuable resource and hence the need to manage it diligently. Some forms of data such as intellectual data have been a source of competitive advantage for many organizations. On the same breath, unregulated data access has been a reason for the downfall of numerous businesses.