As businesses scale, with a strong emphasis on upscaling operations, there is one critical aspect often left out of focus: the organisation’s data platform. This platform serves as the bedrock keeping management informed and ensuring consistency across teams. However, as companies expand, they frequently implement temporary or inadequate data solutions – often resorting to tools like Excel as a temporary solution for processing metrics and information. This approach, while seemingly functional at the outset, poses significant risks as the organisation grows.
Understanding data drift
Data drift occurs when there is a gradual deviation between an organisation’s current data infrastructure and its actual needs. Re Habib, Technical Consultant at Avec, describes the data drift as, “the gradual deviation between required and actual data lake infrastructure which typically results from repeatedly implementing makeshift solutions to the additional data requirements of an expanding or transforming business.”
The cost of overlooking data maturity
When data drift goes unchecked, businesses often find themselves at a crisis point where the lack of data maturity and overexposure to human error can lead to one or more of the following major failures:
- Compromised data integrity.
- Excessive data delays.
- Breach in data security.
- Critical data loss.
Re highlighted “in one instance, a large industrial supplier, which regularly engaged in data malpractices, failed to identify their data drift. When an audit was eventually performed, they found unaccounted losses of $750,000 due to discrepancies in contract renewal data.”
The impact on decision making
Data drift can severely affect decision-making process levels of an organisation. Re likens this to a game of Chinese whispers, “the more stopgap solutions in place, and the more levels of an organisation data must be passed through, the more the integrity of data is at risk. Often, key decision makers, who are most separate from the information ingestion stage of the business, receive outdated or incorrect information, leading to skewed business positions, lost revenue, and potentially contradictory decisions.”
Early warning signs of data drift
There are often telltale signs of an organisation’s data platform becoming outdated or insufficient. According to Re, two specific indicators are consistently seen prior to a crisis:
- Staff complaints about software limitations and reliability.
- Overreliance on manual spreadsheeting to meet those requirements.
Preventing data drift
Businesses can take proactive steps to prevent data drift before it becomes a critical issue. Re advises three key measures:
- Establish and maintain comprehensive policies for data quality assurance.
- Conduct regular audits of data at different levels.
- Define system roles and provision for access to and transformation privileges of data
Of course, these three measures are only able to be implemented in a resource efficient way when built around a properly documented, professionally structured, actively managed data platform.
The future of data management
As businesses become more data mature, the role of data management in decision-making will only grow in importance. Over the next 5-10 years, as technologies like advanced monitoring, notification systems for data quality, and AI-driven governance tools become more accessible, they will provide businesses with a competitive edge. Re believes, “as these technologies evolve, we can ensure that as data drift occurs, it can be immediately identified and corrected without skyrocketing costs.”
So, where do we come in?
Data drift is a significant risk which undermines the growth and success of a business. However, with proactive management, the implementation of a robust data platform, and ongoing vigilance, businesses can prevent data drift from becoming a critical issue.
An effective data platform which scales with a growing business must be well-documented, structured, and capable of automated delivery and visualisation. Avec’s Data Platform as a Service (DPaaS) offers a solution designed to prevent and address data drift. Unlike other solutions, Avec’s DPaaS doesn’t just build the platform and hand it off. Instead, they take an active role in managing and optimising the platform over time to ensure it meets the ongoing and scaling needs of the business. Get in touch with the Avec team to learn about how AI solutions can help your business.
