Data Controls - What are they and why you need them

Most business processes use systems. We have systems for generating and tracking sales leads, processing orders, opening and managing a bank account, and well, just about everything.

To do what they do, these systems all use data. They copy it or use it directly from other systems, show it to users, and allow users to change it. They’re also essential for capturing new information and sharing it with other systems to deliver an outcome for the business or the customer. You can be sure that whatever these systems are doing, they’re using data to do it! Examples of data used by systems include product specifications, customer name, and address, medication schedules, security clearance information, or simply the measurements for some curtains that have been ordered, and all this data is needed to deliver the product or service that the organisation is offering.

One thing is certain; where data is recorded, processed, or shared incorrectly, the outcome that you’re trying to produce for your customers or your organisation will suffer. The consequences of this kind of failure vary significantly depending on the industry and process affected and range from incorrect or undelivered orders and increased business costs to regulatory breaches and fines, loss of customer trust, or in the worst of cases are life-altering.

Ideally, and particularly where the consequences are severe, we strive to prevent the issue from happening completely however, this is not always possible or sensible and the key to minimising the impact becomes early identification. Early identification allows for the correction of the specific case and potentially an adjustment of the process to reduce and prevent further occurrences.

A data control then, examines the data being created and processed by a system to identify issues and enable corrective action to be taken so that these impacts can be avoided or minimised.

Implementing data controls is far from simple and there are many ways to tackle this problem, each with different advantages and drawbacks. The articles here discuss these in some detail.

I hope you find them useful.

First Published 30th December 2020

All views expressed in this article are solely those of the author

© Alex Cowhig 2020