Data accuracy ensures businesses can make the best decisions and limit risks to their reputation. Without correct information, organizational productivity, performance, market value, and customer satisfaction can plummet along with profits. Since data is vital to business success, it’s important to understand how to measure data accuracy and which data must be routinely monitored. Below, let’s examine crucial data metrics for businesses and how to measure data accuracy.
Data Privacy vs. Data Security: Learn the Difference
Data Accuracy Explained
Simply put, data accuracy is the continuous measurement and management of data to ensure all information is high quality. Measured as a percentage, data accuracy helps businesses choose which metrics are most valuable, stable, safe, and up to date with current information. This practice must occur on a regular basis and should be reviewed not only for errors, but also for if the metrics are outdated or incomplete. When data accuracy is met, managers and officials within an organization can make informed decisions about strategy, annual goals, and projects with confidence.
Tips to Measure Data Accuracy
No matter the size, industry, or goals of your organization, every department within your business benefits from having quality data accuracy. So, how can you measure data accuracy? Here’s a few key tips to determine the quality of your information:
Accuracy
As the name suggests, it’s critical to examine the accuracy of all business data, such as by documenting and confirming the sources for each piece of information. While this metric mostly checks for data errors, it’s also an opportunity for companies to update their information with new resources or remove outdated client profiles that no longer apply to your services.
Consistency
Within certain industries, businesses may require similar information for clients. In such instances, businesses must establish a storage strategy to record the information within their system. Thus, it’s important businesses check that each piece of data is consistently stored and labeled the same way across all client data files. This practice ensures data is accurate, organized, and precisely measured throughout the network.
Completion
Data accuracy also measures completion status. If there are information gaps, businesses are left partially blind to important insights, which could impact business decisions. Since this metric is subjective, data professionals or account managers within your business may need to be consulted depending on the type of data.
Incomplete data can create blind spots that greatly impact your business decisions.
Integrity
Ensuring integrity requires businesses to check if their data accurately meets new company procedures and excels during tests. One way to check for integrity is to measure the rate of successful data transfers from one format or system into another without gaps or misdirection of data. If files are transferred from one system to another but appear in an unexpected area, data accuracy could be compromised.
Value
No matter the quality of data, if the information is irrelevant to your company, it has no value. Determining the value of data accuracy is done by checking that specific metrics reach the right departments or personnel throughout your organization. For example, the CIO or IT department receives reports on monthly attempts to breach data security, which are irrelevant to the Sales department.
Data value is further measured whether certain metrics can be accessed of resources by everyone or only specific upper-level management. If confidential data can be easily accessed, the value is compromised and must be restricted.
Ensure Data Accuracy with Kraft Business Systems
Measuring data accuracy can be a tricky process, but ultimately yields great rewards when adjusting business strategies and goals. To better manage your network and stay productive, trust Kraft Business Systems’ Managed IT services to help keep your data organized and accessible. Discover how you can manage your important information through our innovative services today!
