“Why?” a chief technology officer (CTO) may ask when the subject of automated Data Management tools arises. After all, their organization has probably already been storing, archiving, and backing up enterprise data day after day with success. For example, setting up a Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) from a reputable cloud computing provider, with appropriate access to data, […]
Preparing for La Niña: Adopting Predictive Maintenance Before Hurricane Season
With a La Niña watch issued for the summer, businesses operating in hurricane-prone regions face heightened concerns about the impending storm season. La Niña heavily impacts the wind shear and atmospheric conditions over the Atlantic, where most hurricanes form thanks to its warm waters. It’s rare to go a year without a hurricane hitting some part of […]
Why Is a Data-Driven Culture Important?
Many modern organizations are recognizing how important it is to develop a data-driven culture. A data-driven culture typically describes a workplace environment and involves making information readily available to staff. The general idea in promoting a data-driven workplace culture is to increase profits by developing a business that functions in a streamlined, efficient, and friendly […]
The Importance of Women in Data Management
Despite the increasing participation of women in Data Management (DM) roles, women still confront gender-related challenges throughout their careers. One significant challenge is the persistent gender bias prevalent within the industry. According to the study USA Diversity in Data Report 2022-2023, only 26% of DM and analytics positions are held by women. Women often face stereotypes […]
Signal vs. Noise: Balancing On-Call Hygiene for Data-Driven Teams
In the real-time software world, 24×7 uptime is critical for core software where millions of transactions occur every second. In 2018, Amazon’s Prime Day event experienced a 13-minute outage that, according to some estimates, may have cost the company up to $99 million in lost sales. Reliability is paramount when the business depends on it […]
Why Selecting the Appropriate Data Governance Operating Model Is Crucial
To embark on data governance in an enterprise that spans divisions and diverse stakeholders, a well-defined operating model plays a vital role in achieving expected business benefits. Data mesh is a new concept that encourages data democratization within an organization in a decentralized way by promoting data products. Unlike the vintage architecture, which is centralized, data mesh […]
Master Data vs. Reference Data
The terms “master data” and “reference data” can be confused fairly easily. Both provide data that changes only occasionally over time and provide data that is designed to be accurate and up to date. Master data provides the accurate information needed for business transactions that are critical to the running of a business – the […]
What Is Data Privacy? Definition, Benefits, Use Cases
Data privacy describes a set of principles and guidelines to ensure the respectful processing, protection, and handling of sensitive data linked to a person. This concept ties to who can define, observe, use, and control a person’s information and how. Typically, privacy spans two types of levels: implicit rules and written legislation. Implicit rules cover norms, behaviors, and values […]
Women in Data: Meet Dr. Christina Sandema-Sombe
The latest installment in our Q&A series with women leaders in data features Dr. Christina Sandema-Sombe, chief data steward of Nike, Inc. (Read our previous Q&A here.) Dr. Christina Sandema-Sombe first learned the joys – and challenges – of working with data as the global impact measurement lead at a humanitarian aid organization. Over a decade […]
Managing Software Entitlements and Billing: How Usage Data Supports Streamlined Processes
At some point in your life, you’ve probably joined a gym. In doing so, you had to decide what type of membership was right for your fitness goals and at the right price point for your budget. Maybe it was an all-access pass, billed monthly or annually, with unlimited use of the facility, including the […]