Data Strategy Consulting - Collection, Preservation and Application of Data

Data Strategy is the enterprise plan for the collection, preservation and application of data to increase profits and growth. Worcester Group, Inc . provides data strategy consulting services to assist in the development of a data strategy, of which data warehousing and business intelligence form an important part.

Every enterprise functions through business processes – the activities and procedures by which it fulfills its mission. These processes include hiring staff, purchasing raw material, transforming raw material into finished product, selling the finished goods or selling services. Each function generates data in one form or another: purchase orders, work orders, production reports, sales tickets, etc. The enterprise's data strategy dictates how all the data should be handled. In turn, the data strategy is dictated by how management views the data: as a necessary and sometimes useful byproduct of the business process, or as an asset of the enterprise.

In the former view, the data may be collected in paper files, or in a computer system, but the data from each business process is viewed as separate from all other processes. It is used solely to monitor, measure and report on the state of that process.

In the latter view, the data is used to monitor the health of the entire enterprise, to identify new revenue or cost saving opportunities, and to plan for contingencies and for growth. This approach is becoming more common, but the systems in use often were conceived under the former view, and implementing a new data strategy is a wrenching, expensive process.

The idea of “data warehousing” came about as a solution to this problem. In a data warehouse, data from all the data silos in the organization are merged and integrated to afford access to a complete picture of the business on demand. It is not a complete solution, however. The business environment is constantly changing, and forces change upon the enterprise's data systems. Managing that change in the data warehouse becomes problematic. The data warehouse is a good short-term solution, but the longer term requires more fundamental changes.

Management may decide to address the long term solution in one of two ways: replace the legacy information systems with a new integrated “back office” system, (Enterprise Resource Management, or ERP, system); or examine and reengineer all the business processes so that the data they produce is more readily integrated, replacing legacy systems as needed.

The ERP route has the advantage of utilizing an established software package, but the drawback is that it forces business processes to conform to someone else's vision of what they should be. Business Process Reengineering remakes the business processes as management and other stakeholders envision them, but finding a good fit with new information systems may be more difficult.

For these reasons, employing data strategy consulting services can be very beneficial. Your consultant can help you inventory and evaluate the data your business collects, and suggest ways it can be employed to benefit the organization. As you begin to formulate the strategy for collecting and using your available information, the consultant can help identify and prioritize tasks and projects in support of that strategy. The consultant can also help in the selection of new software, including an ERP system, and can design and implement data warehousing and business intelligence systems to meet your most urgent short term needs.

The Worcester Group, Inc. provides data strategy consulting services. We would welcome an opportunity to discuss your data strategy and your information needs with you.