The ability to make the most of increasing volumes of data continues to be a challenge for many organizations. Many recognize the value proposition of data but fall into the trap of “analysis paralysis” when too much information leads to overanalysis without deriving meaningful value.
Commercial real estate organizations already generate significant amounts of data. They create information through transactions, capital planning, finance and accounting as well as through third parties such as appraisers and research firms. This volume of information is already sizable, even before considering true “big data” trends such as unstructured information and the Internet of Things.
With all this data to consider, why are so many organizations lacking a strong data strategy? Part of the problem is that organizations aren’t standardizing data across their operating platforms. Organizations focus too much on getting more data instead of better data. And if they succeed, it doesn’t help them, because they don’t have processes in place to standardize and organize information in a consistent, usable way.
Making the most of existing data is less about volume and more about being strategic with your information decisions. So how can organizations standardize data across their platforms when there are so many different departments, software programs and naming conventions?
It all starts with your data DNA.
What is Data DNA?
In simple terms, “data DNA” is the specific data an organization requires to support key decision making and performance management within the organization. At its core, it is the key information that stakeholders and executives look at when evaluating performance.
Data DNA is a way for organizations to standardize data. The main idea is to focus on common, cross-departmental business information. Data DNA can help firms truly understand what their business drivers are. It highlights which data points they need to support key decision-making processes.
How Can an Organization Find Their Data DNA?
Start with a “reverse engineering” exercise to understand how you’re generating your key reports, including KPIs, benchmarks and management reports.
- Determine the KPIs, benchmarks and management reports your organization actually needs and uses to make decisions.
- Get a baseline of your data collection processes. Map the ways you collect the data required to inform these KPIs.
- Identify which data points are easily collected, and which ones are siloed or require restructuring.
- Look for redundancies or duplication of efforts. For example, your engineering team and sustainability team may both produce HVAC data, but in slightly different ways and formats.
- Streamline your data collection process so that you only collect the data you need, and don’t waste time on other data for the sake of volume.
The next step is to understand how business objectives and performance measures relate to each other. For example, an organization may want to reduce its energy use. But is their data structured to actually show improvement of that metric? This will help further refine Data DNA and establish processes to meet these performance analysis needs.
How Does Data DNA Help Standardize Data Collection?
Once an organization establishes their Data DNA, it’s easier to manage data standards. By knowing exactly what data you need and how you get it, you can standardize processes to generate consistent information. To ensure you’re gathering data in the same standard format:
- Remove silos and centralize your data. All departments and stakeholders should be able to access it in the same place at any time
- Work with software that stores data in a consistent standard format to eliminate differences between the approaches of individual assessors
- Use templates that reflect your Data DNA to gather the same data points consistently
This standardization allows organizations to scale across multiple departments, geographies or property portfolios.
Standardize Your Data With 4tell™ Solutions
Industry leading software products such as those offered by 4tell™ Solutions can help firms store all their necessary data in one place. It allows organizations to capture data in standard formats and update it in real time. If you are interested in learning more about how data standardization can drive true business insight and better operating performance, please contact us to set up a demo or consultation with a member of our team.
Photo: Danijel Modrej / Shutterstock Inc.