Foreword
No, this is not a book about golf, but knowing the author as I do, I can confidently state that golf and data quality are two driving forces of his life. Data quality is a great deal like golf—only the truly experienced understand the complexity. Fortunately for all of us, Tony Fisher has unparalleled experience that he is willing to share.
Unfortunately, in some organizations, data quality and data governance seem to have taken a back seat to enterprise projects involving business intelligence and data warehousing. One of the main reasons for this situation is that data governance requires coordination and communication between the business and IT. That has never been easy, but organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of this kind of cooperation. Additionally, they are now realizing that data management involves more than entering data and running reports. It requires enterprisewide data management or, more precisely, data governance. They are also becoming keenly aware of the ramifications of poor data quality: dissatisfied customers, confused employees, unhappy stakeholders, and poor bottom-line results.
There was a time—prior to the information explosion—when organizations were easily able to identify any anomalies in their data and adjust accordingly. Data was not considered a corporate asset. It was just one part of running the business, and most executives did not realize—and certainly were not concerned about—data quality.
Today there is a completely ...