In today’s world, data is a critical asset for any business, especially in the finance sector. Financial institutions rely heavily on data to make informed decisions and provide valuable services to customers. However, with the increasing volume of data, much of it unstructured, the need for effective data governance has become more critical than ever before. In this article, we will discuss the need for taming unstructured data in finance and the importance of effective data governance.
The Challenge of Unstructured Data in Finance
Unstructured data refers to data that is not organized in a predefined manner. Examples of unstructured data in finance include emails, social media posts, PDFs, and images. The challenge with unstructured data is that it is challenging to manage, analyze, and extract insights. The sheer volume of unstructured data can also be overwhelming for financial institutions, making it difficult to keep track of what data is stored where and who has access to it.
According to a report by IBM, 80% of data generated by businesses today is unstructured, and this number is expected to continue to rise. This trend is particularly relevant to the finance industry, where unstructured data is often created as a byproduct of financial transactions.
The Need for Effective Data Governance in Finance
Effective data governance is essential in taming unstructured data in finance. Data governance refers to the process of managing the availability, usability, integrity, and security of data used in an organization. Without effective unstructured data governance, financial institutions risk data breaches, data loss, and the inability to use data effectively.
Effective data governance in finance should include the following:
- Defining data ownership and accountability: Financial institutions should define who owns the data and who is responsible for its accuracy and security.
- Implementing data quality controls: Financial institutions should implement data quality controls to ensure that the data is accurate, complete, and consistent.
- Managing data access and security: Financial institutions should control access to data to ensure that only authorized personnel can view and modify it.
- Enabling data discovery and classification: Financial institutions should implement tools that enable the discovery and classification of unstructured data to ensure that data is not lost and that it can be found when needed.
- Establishing data retention policies: Financial institutions should establish data retention policies to ensure that data is retained only for as long as it is needed and deleted when it is no longer needed.
Benefits of Effective Data Governance in Finance
Effective data governance can provide numerous benefits to financial institutions. These benefits include:
- Improved data quality: Effective data governance ensures that data is accurate, complete, and consistent.
- Better decision-making: Effective data governance provides financial institutions with reliable and consistent data, enabling them to make informed decisions.
- Increased efficiency: Effective data governance enables financial institutions to manage data more efficiently, reducing the time and effort required to find and analyze data.
- Enhanced security: Effective data governance ensures that data is secure, reducing the risk of data breaches and data loss.
In the words of Kyle DuPont, Co-Founder and CEO of Ohalo, “Effective data governance is fundamental to our business strategy, supporting our customer-centric approach, and enabling us to unlock the full potential of our data assets.”
Conclusion
Taming unstructured data in finance is a challenging task. However, with effective data governance, financial institutions can manage unstructured data efficiently, extract insights, and provide valuable services to customers.
Financial institutions must establish a robust data governance framework that defines data ownership and accountability, implements data quality controls, manages data access and security, enables data discovery and classification, and establishes data retention policies.
By doing so, financial institutions can reap the benefits of effective data governance, including improved data quality, better decision-making, increased efficiency, and enhanced security.
