Customer Reviews

Data Driven: Profiting from Your Most Important Business Asset

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In contrast to several recent books on the importance of managing with data analytics, Data Driven starts with the IT infrastructure required to maintain consistent data, then focuses on data quality from the executive perspective of the hidden costs of poor data, and finally, explores how to make better decisions through proper data management.

A nice twist is a chapter on content providers who bring packaged data to the marketplace. This is a growing segment that is applicable to every business, since every business collects data that has value to companies in its ecosystem.

There is a chapter on Social Issues, which is great in intent but weak in content. Sad...

The book ends with "what to do over the next one hundred days" advice. If managers are serious about treating data as a business asset, then this chapter lays out the essentials of what to do.

I recommend this book for business executives to orient their thinking about data as a business asset and to realize what tangible actions must be done to make that a reality in their companies. I know that these are old old themes for the IT profession. However, these fundamental themes are oldies but goodies!

If you are at all involved in assuring the quality of your company's data you need to know the work of Thomas C. Redman. Redman has been working on improving data quality for years and he has written numerous articles and books on the subject. His latest book, Data Driven: Profiting From Your Most Important Business Asset is another winner.

Redman offers the basic thesis of the book right there on page one, where he states "...bad data lie at the root of issues of international importance, including the current subprime mortgage meltdown, lost and stolen identities, hospital errors and contested elections." After laying down the problem, the rest of the book tells us what we need to do to correct the problems.

Data Driven will help you to improve the methods you deploy for the care and feeding of your data and information; in other words, helping you to control and manage data using similar processes and controls that you deploy on your other assets (finances, people, structures, etc.) - a noble goal, indeed!

The writing is concise and snappy - you won't get bored reading this book. The style is engaging and it is easy to read. For example, instead of just saying what to do and how to do it, which can be boring, Redman discusses many of the arguments people use to say that data quality is impossible, and then debunks them showing that data quality is possible, if approached properly and thoroughly.

There are many good ideas, charts, and graphs in Data Driven, too. One of my favorites is on page 54, where you can find a chart of the ten habits followed by those with the best data. If you buy this book, make a poster-sized photocopy of that page and hang it up on the wall of the break room and in the data folks' cubicles. Maybe the habits will rub off on everyone as they gaze upon them everywhere.

But the best little gem in this wonderful book is the entirety of the last chapter, which is titled "The Next One Hundred Days." In this chapter Dr. Redman offers what he calls a hundred-day panorama. It is not a grand plan because most will not have the depth of understanding required to create such a plan and have it succeed. Instead, the panorama strives for breadth, not depth, with a focus on quality. Diligent readers can follow the guidance in this chapter and thereby begin the long-term process of appreciating the importance of data quality on their business practices.

And that alone is worth the price of the book... but, of course, the book offers much more and I recommend it to every IT and business professional whose job relies on accurate data.

Tom Redman's book fills a need in our data quality literature. It is the first data quality book I'm aware of that is entirely meant for a business audience. I can't think of anyone more qualified to write this kind of book than Tom, a respected leader in the field of data quality with years of experience. He has the ability to clearly explain ideas in such a way that anyone can grasp them. Even more importantly it gives us the words to carry the message to those we work with. Thanks, Tom!

As a long-term member of the data management community, I have read many books on the aspects of data management, including data quality. Many approach the topic from the perspective of a data management professional, which is good since we need books to show us how to practice the functions of the profession. Very few books in the field are aimed at the non-DM community, leaving executives and business managers confused about why they should invest in data management (data quality, data warehousing, meta data management, data governance, etc.).

Tom Redman's book, however, is a guide for business managers as well as data management professionals about how to manage corporate data as a common resource. He shows what the costs of bad/poor data quality can be to organizations and how to acheive improved quality of data across the enterprise.

Tom demonstrates his deep knowledge of the information quality field in his examples and shows his years of research in his approach to data quality. His passion for the topic and his desire to help organizations improve how organizations manage and use this essential asset are evident throughout this book.

This book couldn't have been written without the deep insight brought by the author, but the reader need only be a good listener.
I believe this book hits upon an undeniable and simple truth - data/information is the unique fingerprint or DNA possessed by an organization.
How wisely or poorly an organization manages that data is likely the most profound driver of its success or failure - period!

Tom Redman talks what he knows about, and knows what he's talking about - a very worthy read, indeed!
Bravo, Dr. Redman!

This is a highly readable, thorough, credible guide to the principles of data management. Author Thomas C. Redman covers all the bases, showing readers how to improve data quality, use data to make better decisions and establish management systems that will help nearly any company get the most from its data. Few business subjects have been more abused than data management; a common misconception consigns data management to the IT department. The author shows why the data is, most appropriately, a line rather than a staff responsibility. getAbstract recommends it highly to those whose business may live or die based on the quality of its data management - and that may be your company, whether you realize it yet or not.

"Data Driven" is a thorough guide into the data world for those who do not consider themselves data experts. It gives a clear understanding of why data should be considered organization wide as a business asset. Dr. Redman gives a very readable explanation of concepts that can be foreign to many non-IT people, and why data and information importance must become part of the corporate culture. As data becomes more and more prevalent in businesses, leaders must find ways to leverage this asset. Through real world examples and a frame work for how to begin putting data to work for the organization, "Data Driven" is a must-read for all contemplating diving into this area.

By: D. Nielsen

I have been familiar with Tom Redman's work for the past 15 years. Although not a "data geek", it was his writing, in combination with attempting to utilize data in performance measurement, that raised my level of awareness of many of the problems associated with data quality. It was soon apparent to me that most organizations assume that data quality "just happens" and doesn't require any associated rigor, whether it be through data management processes or data governance (oversight).

Tom has written a classic business book that not only clearly and succinctly explains the business for data quality, but also the steps that one can begin to take to improve data quality. Clearly, work needs to be done by the reader to ensure a clarity of understanding about some data concepts, but that work is minimal in developing a starting point in thinking about data quality within your organization.

I am now the senior leader of my organization and I have made Tom's new book "Data Driven" required reading for my management team. It certainly has raised awareness and stimulated significant discussion about our company's core asset.

I hope that Tom's next book details the "best practice" concepts concerning data quality and data management. This is an emerging field and where those who start addressing this issue now will be long term winners and will have a head-start in becoming a world class organization.

You may be the rare person who reads this book and simply nods your head, saying "Yes, of course." Or, you may read it and say, as I did, "I didn't realize that." And you may read it, as many will, and say, "This is a way of thinking about data and managing data that I never dreamed of."

"Data Doc" Tom Redman has written a different kind of book on data and quality--one that all of us, even professionals in this data-driven world can read and learn from. These are lessons I had to come under Tom's influence to learn, and I've been in the business of data base hardware, software, and consulting for over twenty years.

We learn about the business side of data--what it means to business managers to improve the value of their business by improving the quality of their data. I thought this was true, but Tom taught me the details from a management perspective.

We learn about a management attitude--you might call it the "public health" orientation towards data--prevent the sickness, don't just treat the disease.

You may already understand data from a technology perspective. You may come from a quality perspective. But Tom shows us a way to talk about data management in a way that also makes business sense--adding another dimension to your current understanding.

You will not learn yet another way to draw data models. You will not learn another way to measure quality. And you don't need to have either background. You will add to your knowledge about data management no matter where you start.

This is THE business book about information technology I'm now recommending to my colleagues and friends, and I recommend it to you as well, if you have anything to do with data in your work.

If you, or your organization want positive branding, want better decision making, want to be faster, cheaper and more more effective in your market-space... then you best have the right data, in the right place, at the right time! Manage the data about you; do not let it manage you. And Redman shows us how in this thought provoking yet practical book.

Read it for value, give it to an associate, follow the prescriptions, then read it again.

Start your "next one hundred days" now!