9 Aspects of Data Management Your IT Team Must Have

We live in a data-driven world. The amount of data/information generated, gathered, copied, and consumed is forecast to reach 180 zettabytes by 2025. With this rapid expansion comes tremendous opportunities for organizations to gain actionable insights to improve business outcomes. However, to realize the full potential of data, comes the need for effective data management.

Data management is the management of all architectures, policies and procedures that serve the full data lifecycle needs of an organization. It is an IT practice that aims to make sure that data is accessible, reliable, and useful for individuals and the organization. The term can also refer to broader IT and business practices that enable the use of data in the most strategic way possible.

Data Management Skills Every IT Team Should Have

Data analytics involves a broad range of data management skills to effectively handle data collection, storage, deployment, processing, security, governance, analysis, and communication. Here are some of the key data management requirements your IT team should have.

Data Integration

The ability to combine data from diverse sources and systems involves data modeling, extraction, transformation, loading (ETL), data mapping, and data integration tools. Depending on the data integration tool and integration requirements, SQL proficiency may be needed to query and manipulate data.

Data Quality Management

Understanding how to ensure that data is accurate, complete, current, trusted, and easily accessible to everyone who needs it. Techniques include data auditing, data profiling, data cleansing, and data validation.

Data Storage and Processing

Choosing appropriate storage and database technologies for analytics while taking into account your current and future requirements for data volume, velocity, and variety and other uses.

Cloud Deployment

As fast-growing data volumes and advanced analytics are driving deployment in a cloud or hybrid environment, data management professionals need to build their cloud skills.

Database Design and Development

Knowledge of designing the database to handle large volumes of data and to support complex analytical queries. This includes indexing strategies, partitioning techniques, and query optimization to enhance performance.

Data Analysis

Proficiency in how to empower users to extract meaningful insights, identify trends, and make informed decisions based on available information. This involves not only traditional reporting, business intelligence, and data visualization tools, but also includes advanced analytics such as machine learning, to uncover hidden trends and patterns and to forecast future outcomes. In addition, users are seeking real-time data analytics to empower “next best actions” at the moment.

Data Security

Protecting data is a data management must. This includes strong security safeguards and countermeasures to prevent, detect, counteract, or minimize risks, including user authentication, access control, role separation, and encryption.

Data Governance

This involves determining the appropriate storage, use, handling, and availability of data. You’ll need to know how to protect privacy, comply with regulations, and ensure ethical use, while still allowing visibility into your stored data.

Communication and Collaboration

Collaboration skills are crucial for working in cross-functional teams and aligning data management efforts with organizational goals. To be successful, you’ll need to understand your users’ needs and how they measure the success and challenges users face in getting the insights they need.

Data management skills for analytics involves a mix of technical, business, and managerial competencies and vary greatly by role and objectives. Also, keep in mind that technology is always advancing, so you’ll have to stay on top of the latest trends and tools and develop new skills as the need arises.

Need Help with Your Data Management?

Actian is a trusted data management advisor, with over 50 years of experience helping customers manage the world’s most critical data. Contact us to learn how we make managing a data platform for analytics easy.

Additional resources:

• Security, Compliance and Governance
• How to Maximize Business Value With Real-Time Data Analytics
• How Your Peers Are Experiencing Their Journeys to the Cloud

About Teresa Wingfield

Teresa Wingfield is Director of Product Marketing at Actian where she is responsible for communicating the unique value that the Actian Data Platform delivers, including proven data integration, data management and data analytics. She brings a 20-year track record of increasing revenue and awareness for analytics, security, and cloud solutions. Prior to Actian, Teresa managed product marketing at industry-leading companies such as Cisco, McAfee, and VMware.