The importance of data quality (2023)

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In our previous blog posts, we looked at agile software development and some of its benefits, and explored some examples of how agile development is being used in the real world. In this blog post, we shift gears and focus on data – especially data quality.

We've looked at why the quality of your data matters and why you should pay attention to it. We also look at what can happen when systems use low-quality data.

Download our checklist to improve the quality of your data.

What is data quality and why is it important?

Before we turn to the importance of quality data, we should start with a definition of “data quality.“

Data quality is a perception or assessment of the suitability of data to serve its purpose in a specific context. As data becomes more complex tied to operations or organizations, the emphasis on data quality receives greater attention.

Quality data usually has the followingAttribute:

• Completeness - the ratio of stored data to potential 100% completeness
• Uniqueness - nothing is registered more than once, depending on how that thing is identified
• Update – the data reflects the reality of the desired moment
• Validity - the data is valid and conforms to the syntax
• Accuracy – data is correct, relevant and represents what it should
• Consistency - same rules across all datasets

At the core of great analytics is great dataClick here to tweet

Benefits of using quality data

Now that we have a definition of what "data quality" is, let's look at some of the benefits that quality data can bring to your business or organization.

decision making

Data quality is important because people in all fields need accurate, reliable and timely information. Quality data can help organizations improve decision-making, reduce risk and increase efficiency, which leads to the next important point:

productivity

When teams or professionals use quality data, productivity can increase significantly. Having all the information they need in one or more high-quality datasets means teams don't have to waste time gathering information to get a “whole picture” or filling in gaps in the data. Think of how many times you've had to access multiple systems or worse, multiple spreadsheets and wonder why some data was missing or didn't look right.

Marketing

It's often said that "data is the new oil," and that couldn't be more true for marketing. For example, if you have high-quality datasets related to your customer profile, you can better segment and target your customers based on their online habits and behavior, thus increasing the likelihood that they will use your products or services. Decisions based on quality and more detailed data can lead to higher sales numbers.

product development

If you are in the software development industry or launching a new product, you probably want to track and verify KPIs, for example B. the interaction with your product. Examining data points like button clicks and pageviews can help uncover actionable insights. This can help inform your product development team about upcoming features to develop, features to remove, and even determine product suitability.

Download our checklist to improve the quality of your data.

business performance

Quality data can provide insights that allow you to better understand customer and market behavior, which can lead to new product opportunities. Viewing your data as an asset and not just information can create new monetization avenues, new partnerships and innovative revenue models. Deeper analysis of employee data can lead to greater engagement and productivity. Looking at data and processes on the operational side of the business equation can result in significant cost savings for the organization.

These are just some of the benefits that illustrate the importance of data quality. Other benefits may include, but are not limited to:

• Support teams and other customer-facing employees can access contact records they can trust, with detailed customer preferences and a complete interaction history
• Marketing teams are more likely to improve lead-to-customer conversion rates when they get better data on marketing campaign hit rates
• Sales teams can identify higher quality sales leads and better target sales messages
• You can reduce your company's operating costs by analyzing all the company's processes

And these are just some of the additional benefits that quality data brings!

What can happen if you don't use quality data

So we've looked at some examples of the benefits of using quality data in your projects. Now let's see what can happen when you work with low quality data.

Inefficiency

When your business processes rely on data (and most do), poor quality data makes your business more likely to slow down. Without quality data, there is no trust. Without trust there is no trust. according to aHarvard Business ReviewArticles, studies show thatKnowledge workers waste up to 50% of their time looking for data, finding and correcting errors, and looking for corroborating sources for data they don't trust.

trademark damage

Poor quality data can negatively impact the customer experience and damage the brand. The power of a brand cannot be underestimated, and in today's connected world, it doesn't take much to undermine a brand's public image. Consumers respond quickly on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. for example theApple MapsThe release in 2012 was heavily criticized on social media. During the launch of Apple Maps, it quickly became apparent that much of the underlying data needed was inaccurate and, in some cases, missing. As a result, Apple shares fell4,5%in value, which equates to a market cap of $30 billion.

What happens when systems use low-quality data? Inefficiencies, brand damage, lost sales, and lost opportunities.Click here to tweet

missed opportunities

When competing companies gain more actionable insights into consumers from data than you do, it can result in missed opportunities. These could be new ideas for products or services, or additional functionality that you can add to existing software applications. When for exampleblockbustergiven the opportunity to work with Netflix, they scrapped the idea because Blockbuster saw no value in Netflix's vision for innovative consumption of consumer content. Netflix believed in using consumer behavior data to glean market insights, including an on-demand streaming trend. This missed opportunity eventually led to Blockbuster's bankruptcy in 2010.

lost profit

A direct consequence of missed opportunities can impact your business results. Unreliable data can negatively impact business decisions and lead to negative financial results. 2016,IBMestimated that the annual cost of poor quality data resulted in a loss of $3.1 trillion in the US alone.

Summary

In this article, we've introduced what data quality is and why it's important, along with some of the attributes that quality data often has. We also look at the benefits that quality data can bring to your business or organization. Finally, we look at what can happen when you work with low-quality datasets and how it impacts real-world business.

Here at Growth Acceleration Partners, we have extensive experience helping companies achieve the data quality they need to achieve their business goals. Your business growth depends on quality data. Our integrated nearshore and onshore business model allows you to realize significant cost savings and build a team dedicated to improving the quality of your data.

Our Engineering Centers of Excellence in Latin America focus on combining business acumen with development expertise to support your business. We can provide your organization with resources in the following areas:

• Software development for mobile and cloud applications
• Data Analysis and Data Science
• Information Systems (DevOps)
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence
• predictive modeling
• Quality control and quality control automation

If you want to know more, visit our websiteHere. Or if you prefer, why notarrange a meeting with us?