How do you measure the impact of data management improvements on business outcomes?

1 Define your objectives

Before you can measure the impact of data management improvements, you need to define what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. For example, do you want to increase sales, improve customer retention, or optimize operations? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect your objectives, such as conversion rate, churn rate, or productivity? How will you collect and analyze the data related to these KPIs?

2 Establish a baseline

Once you have defined your objectives and KPIs, you need to establish a baseline to compare your results before and after the data management improvements. This means you need to collect and store the data that reflects your current state of performance and data management practices. You can use tools such as data audits, surveys, or dashboards to assess the quality, availability, and usability of your data, as well as the satisfaction and feedback of your data users.

3 Implement the improvements

The next step is to implement the data management improvements that you have planned and prioritized. Depending on the scope and complexity of your project, you may need to use different methods and tools to improve your data collection, organization, storage, and usage. For example, you may need to use data cleansing, validation, or enrichment techniques to improve data quality, or data integration, migration, or transformation tools to enhance data accessibility and compatibility.

4 Monitor the results

After implementing the data management improvements, you need to monitor the results and compare them with your baseline. You can use the same tools and methods that you used to establish the baseline, such as data audits, surveys, or dashboards, to measure the changes in your data quality, availability, and usability, as well as your data users' satisfaction and feedback. You can also track the changes in your KPIs that reflect your business outcomes, such as revenue, customer satisfaction, or efficiency.

5 Adjust and repeat

The final step is to adjust and repeat the process based on your findings and feedback. You may need to fine-tune or modify some of your data management improvements to optimize their impact, or identify new areas or opportunities for improvement. You may also need to update or revise your objectives and KPIs as your business goals and needs evolve. By continuously measuring and improving your data management practices, you can maximize the value of your data for your business outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?