If you have stumbled upon this blog it’s probably because you’re looking to learn more about data integration, data quality, master data management (MDM), business intelligence (BI), data warehousing or all of the above and more. These topics, although sometimes treated as completely independent concepts, tend to be characterized under a larger and constantly growing notion simply called Data Management. As simple as the name may be, the concept is not.
DAMA (the Data Management Association), defines Data Management (from the DAMA-Data Management Book of Knowledge) as the following: “Data management is the development, execution and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that control, protect, deliver and enhance the value of data and information assets.” Although helpful, the DAMA definition shows just how hard it is to really describe Data Management.
The market place also shows the difficulty in understanding data management. If you do an individual search for data integration, BI, MDM, data quality, or any other data management topics, you find dozens of different software and consulting firms that have solutions available to you. However, when it comes to the larger concept of data management, there is significant decline in the number of options available. Data Management in itself is a difficult but not an impossible task for any enterprise, and ZEMA, by ZE PowerGroup Inc. (ZE) is an excellent example of a well designed Data Management System. Used throughout the Energy, Commodities and Financial industries, the ZEMA Data Management System has successfully been integrated into a variety of organizations and acting as their core Data Management system.
Data Management in our view encompasses six different and very important items (as listed on the diagram below). These data management items include scheduling (collection and warehousing of data), connectivity (data integration and MDM of data), validation (data quality and data integrity), analysis (business intelligence), reporting (data visualization), and distribution (system integration).
Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be breaking down the barriers surrounding data management and explain these different aspects and how understanding and utilizing these different concepts can help your organization manage and utilize your data. As part of this I’ll also be blogging about some of the big changes in data management to come, such as the ever changing external effects have on collecting market data, and what new challenges to expect in data.
Follow us on our RSS feed to stay up to date on the blog, and if there is any additional data management or forward curve management topics you would like to hear about simply leave a comment and I’ll make sure to blog about it in the future.