Data Management and the Journey to High Performance

Data is quickly becoming the lifeblood of an organization, and a valuable enterprise asset. Yet Accenture's ongoing research shows that, in many organizations, reliable information still is not available when and where it is needed. Despite years of investment in information technology, data is not accessible, accurate, complete and secure.

Why has this happened? We believe that, despite all the attention given to information technology, too little focus has been placed on the underlying data itself and the architecture that delivers and manages this vital raw material.

What does it take to achieve excellence in DM&A? To help business leaders understand the scope of their challenge and assess their own situation, Accenture has developed an approach based on two fundamental insights derived from extensive work helping organizations reach for high performance.

The first insight is that people and processes will be more important to a successful DM&A project than the technology investment. Of course, new technology may indeed be part of a solution, but there is currently no single software package or solution available off the shelf. Thus, acquiring necessary new technology will be challenging, as it may require integrating various technology components and tools.

Our second insight is that data management requires a slate of capabilities that span the data lifecycle—a lifecycle that encompasses how data is created, stored, moved, used and retired.

How can Accenture's capabilities framework help organizations achieve high performance in data management and architecture? At the most basic level, the framework can guide organizations toward the solution for their most pressing problems.

The DM&A journey requires a guidebook that is built on the following elements:

• A diagnostic tool to evaluate the organization's capabilities at the outset and to assess an organization's performance in each of the six capability areas in our framework. Where is the organization in achieving these capabilities? What is required to meet the business goals?
  
  
• A portfolio of DM&A projects developed based on the areas an organization targets for improvement. They may be standalone projects (for example, a data quality project that requires immediate attention because of its significant impact on business operations) or part of another larger project. The capabilities are prioritized and reflected in the portfolio—what needs are most immediate and will have greatest impact in achieving business goals?
  
  
• A road map for implementation that provides the sequencing of these projects. In laying out this road map, important factors to consider include the organization's business model, past actions and future plans, the organization's history, business imperatives and technical dependencies, and the requirements of projects already underway.

Organizations that aspire to high performance, are taking an innovative approach to data management. Rather than defining data management narrowly as a technology challenge, they take a holistic approach that encompasses the people and processes that are also critical for success. They understand that excelling in data management will ultimately require strength in each of six discrete, but interrelated, capabilities. And they are willing to embark on a journey, knowing it will provide rewards at each stage along the way and will ultimately lead them to greater success in all areas of information management and new heights of business performance.