While there are tools that can help with and augment your formal methodology, capable data stewardship requires the symbiotic merging and integration of the automated (technology) with the manual (people). For many organizations, data problems remain secreted or hidden until issues are uncovered that result from a formidable event of costly business impact, such as an external audit, fraudulent activity, subpoena or valued customer satisfaction issue. A prolific variety of complex legacy data (which may go through many iterations of manual reconciliation on its way up to senior management’s eyes) lingering in cloaked and “siloed” structures will always be poised to wreak havoc when least expected.
Are we ahead of the game?