It is a given today that information is one of, if not the biggest asset of any company. After all, anybody can replicate a product or business model, but it would be a tall order to acquire the exact same information being used by your competitors. Furthermore, it is likely that without having the same information as the company whose business you are trying to replicate, you are much more unlikely to find the same success.
This is why companies invest heavily to acquire and store their data. This process is known as data management, and it is becoming standard throughout the United Kingdom. The information age means that more data than ever is available to be harnessed and used.
When used properly, this offers a company an incredible advantage. Having access to accurate information regarding your target market and the current market conditions helps you tailor your products and business strategies accordingly. Thus, you are better able to respond to the needs of the market.
On the other hand, however, data management you do acquire poorly can have disastrous consequences and result in great losses for your company. Here are some of the things that can happen due to poor data management:
1. You are more likely to receive inaccurate data
Proper data management involves verifying your data sources and properly analysing the information to determine what exactly they can be utilized for. Hence, it is important to have a data management plan that will properly harness the data you collect.
Without a well-functioning data management system, information can get lost or mixed up with the rest of the data that you have. As a result, the data you end up utilizing may become completely inaccurate or outdated.
Poor data management can also result in your system being filled with information that you have no use for. Not only does this leave less space for more relevant data, but you may have no way of easily determining what data is relevant to your needs and what is not. Hence, you might end up not being able to find the data you need and instead of being left with information that will not help you at all.
2. You are more vulnerable to security breaches
A large part of data management involves properly storing and securing your data in order to ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands. Without strong security protections built into your data management system, you are more vulnerable to either accidentally leaking insider information, or being hacked by those who seek to acquire this information for their own gain.
Given that information is among the most prized resources today, some will go to great lengths to try to steal this information. Hence, it is important that your company’s data is protected to withstand such efforts. Having private insider information getting out can be disastrous both for a company’s business efforts, as well as its public and professional image.
3. You face more unnecessary costs
Poor data management can lead to a lot of unnecessary costs that would better be spent on more productive ventures. You could be facing lost revenues as a result of using inaccurate data — or worse — additional costs trying to fix a hack or leak.
Costs do not only refer to monetary losses, but also to the wasted time spent using unhelpful information. Given that this time could instead have been used to work on growing the business, managing data poorly can truly compromise the profitability of a business and its ability to truly be successful.
