Intelligence Hub

How Broken Data is Breaking Businesses.

Mark Kennedy
July 7th, 2022

Almost every business uses data in some way, whether it’s to track inventory, customers, sales, or something else. And that data is only valuable if it’s accurate. But when data is inaccurate or “broken,” it can have a negative effect on businesses.

The impact of broken data is often underestimated. Incomplete, inaccurate or just plain wrong data can lead to business decisions that are sub-optimal at best and disastrous at worst.

Many organizations struggle with data that is incomplete, inaccurate or wrong. This is often the result of data that has been entered manually, which is prone to errors. In other cases, it may be the result of data that has been imported from another system that was not properly cleaned up before being imported. It is also a consequence of software tools that are not integrated or sharing data with each other.

Whatever the cause, the impact of broken data can be significant. Incomplete data can lead to missed opportunities or incorrect conclusions.

Examples of the issues broken data can cause include:

  • Broken data can lead to bad decision-making. If a business is basing decisions on inaccurate data, those decisions are likely to be wrong. This can result in lost sales, wasted money, and a general decline the company’s performance
  • Broken data can lead to significant accounting errors. We have seen this firsthand with several companies and recovered more than six-figures in lost money.
  • Broken data can make it difficult to track progress. If a company is trying to measure its performance over time, but its data is inaccurate, it will be difficult to tell if it’s improving or not. This lack of visibility can be frustrating for managers and make it difficult to set goals and objectives.
  • Broken data can damage a company’s reputation. If customers or clients find out that a company is using inaccurate data, they may lose faith in the company and take their business elsewhere.

Ultimately, broken data can have a serious negative impact on businesses of all sizes. That’s why it’s so important for companies to ensure that their data is as accurate as possible.

Learn about the six figure mistakes we have uncovered for companies by helping them address broken data. Watch the video here.

The first step in dealing with broken data is to identify the problem. This can be difficult, as data problems can be subtle and hard to spot. Once the problem is identified, however, it is important to take steps to fix it. This may involve cleaning up existing data, improving data entry processes or developing better methods for importing data from other systems. More recently, interconnected software solutions with open APIs share data between tools such as a CRM, ERP, and project management software. Integrating your software is often the best way to deal with broken data. When systems share data the risk of manual entry errors and the time costs of searching for data are dramatically reduced.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to addressing the issues associated with broken data. Here is some key guidance to assist you in

First and foremost, it is important to have a clear understanding of what data is broken and why it is broken. This will help you to determine the best course of action for dealing with the data. Oftentimes, the help of an external consultant with experience identifying data silos and evaluating processes can be the best way to diagnose challenges and create a plan and solutions roadmap to make data one of the key assets of your business.

Once you have a clear understanding of the data, you need to decide how you want to deal with it. There are a multitude of decisions about organizing the data, deleting data that has become irrelevant, and defining what systems the data will now live in.

If you decide to organize or repair the data, you will need to make sure that you have a backup of the data before you begin. This way, if something goes wrong, you will have a copy of the data to fall back on.

ShapeConnect possesses surveys, experts, and software vendors that can fix your data, empowering you to make better decisions and delivering greater efficiency at every level. Get signed-up or log back on to our platform and share issues your company is facing with broken data. We’ll provide you with a consultation and recommendations of partners and solutions that can help your organization.