UK firms ignore data management policies

Failure to implement viable data management policies could cost businesses dear, the British Computer Society (BCS) warned today.

A newly published BCS book, Principles of Data Management, Facilitating Information Sharing by Keith Gordon, claims that poor data management can seriously affect the competitiveness of an organisation.

"All medium to large organisations, commercial and government, need a corporate data management service," said Gordon.

"I see many instances where the inability to share information between information systems leads to mistakes and misunderstanding, which in turn leads to poor customer service and extra expenditure.

"These organisations cannot really afford to be without data management, yet very few recognise the problems, let alone that data management is the solution. "

Harry Ellis, an independent consultant and member of the Worldwide Web Consortium, added: "The goal is for all data to be captured in digital form once only, as close as possible to the time and place of the observations, decisions and results that it is required to reflect.

"Once captured it should then be stored and distributed in such a manner that it can be made readily available to any person or system with a legitimate 'need to know' while remaining safe from loss, damage or theft."