Importance of the Data Request Process

An established data request process is an important data governance (also referred to as data intelligence) process to have at an organization. This process is for staff members asking for such items as new reports, new extracts of information, clarification of business glossary or definition items or requests for a new reference data item. Make sure that this process is known, easy to access and easy to use. Often one data request leads to another data request.  We just thought we would do this short blog post discussing the importance of having a data request process. Additional resources on data requests including tips, thoughts and best practices can be found here.

Here is why having a data request process is important:

1. Ensures accurate and trusted information (better user experience for requestor)
   • Builds trust with your report requestors and data consumers
   • Allows for well-documented and certified reports
2. Creates efficiency and saves money
   • Gets the right people involved when needed
   • Generates clearer requirements
   • Reduces rework or duplicate work
3. Allows you to track requests (audit trail)
   • Avoid long delays
   • Discover opportunities for improvements
4. Captures critical knowledge about your data that can be used for later requests

All the interesting organizational knowledge about what and how you use your data is decided every time a data request is processed. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How are you managing this request process?
• How are you capturing the know-how from the requests?
• How are you standardizing the exchange between requester and the person handling request?
• Are you creating trust and use of data at your organization?

We just want to stress the importance of having a data request process in place and the importance of storing the information from these requests in a knowledge base for use in the future. A request is a conversation. Make sure that there is communication between the requestor and the person handling the request. Better data requests and the handling of these requests leads to better data results. Requests that are done verbally, in emails, or over the phone lead to a lack of an audit trail for the requests. Balls could be dropped. We feel that it is very valuable to have a data governance solution like the Data Cookbook that can manage data requests and route them to the appropriate person. We hope that this information was beneficial to you. Additional data governance and data intelligence resources (recorded webinars, blog posts and videos) can be accessed at www.datacookbook.com/dg.

IData has a solution, the Data Cookbook, that can aid the employees and the organization in its data governance, data intelligence, data stewardship and data quality initiatives. IData also has experts that can assist with data governance, reporting, integration and other technology services on an as needed basis. Feel free to contact us and let us know how we can assist.

Photo Credit:StockSnap_SPZLMGG92I_womanwhispering_datarequest_BP #B1175