Data quality issues get worse when ignored

Despite the growing number of companies that are investing in big data plans, approximately half of businesses do not have a clear data quality strategy, according to Information Management.

However, it's important to remember that getting it right the first time is easier than cleaning up a big mess, the source explains. Verifying important content, such as customer contact data, at the outset is better than going back and trying to fill in gaps or make changes later on. For instance, marketers may want to use data quality tools to verify email addresses and identifying information when customers are on the phone or in the initial process of signing up, so they can clear up any fields that contain errors or inaccuracies.

If companies wait until issues occur, they may find certain information is locked in silos or doesn't match up, based on which team collected it and entered the data, making it more difficult to verify or update.

Rather than making quality control an afterthought, companies might have greater success managing information if they make it a priority and demonstrate how it will make employees' lives easier in the long-run, according to a recent post in the Data Roundtable Blog.