How often do you take the time to review the data structures within your organization? Are you finding that rather than solving the problem you are simply bailing water from the boat to stay afloat? This is the bane of unstructured / semi structured data repositories! Rather than following an organization wide set of protocols – individual business units or individuals have been able to structure their data repositories to suite their preferences. What happens when the business unit is rolled up into another and all of a sudden the business process has now changed or becomes incorporated into the processes of a new unit?
What you now have is a rubber band ball of data that began individually as its own structured / semi structured entity, but has now evolved into unstructured data that requires multiple entities to investigate, unravel and restructure back into a new structure that looks nothing like its original structure.
As we move further into the information age where data is a highly valued commodity, regularly taking stock of your inventory and dusting the shelves (file systems) in which they sit, becomes an ever more a demanding and necessary task, but with the right tools and a bit of help setting the process, by no means does it have to be a continuous hardship.
What data structure challenges do you face?
