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Getting started with the Enterprise Data Plan

Enterprise Data Management is a journey. The plan is your starting point.  It states your destination and describes how you will get there.   It defines the benefits and costs.  It outlines the potential risks and provides guidance for handling them.   It gives a set of measures that can be used along the way to judge progress and adjust the journey according to changing circumstances. 

What do you intend to achieve? What opportunities do you see?  Which problems need solving?  When you can state your intentions clearly, then you are well on the path to producing an effective plan.

Is Enterprise Data Planning like other planning processes?  Yes it is.  It means defining goals, activities and establishing resources and costs.  It needs careful research and analysis of the business and its goals. 

What is different about Data Planning?  Data (and its derivatives; information and knowledge) are resources that are shared throughout the enterprise.  In this case, the enterprise is an extended family who want access to your data via the Internet, application systems, messages, business intelligence tools and hard copy print.  The family includes:

  • Your company
  • Clients, distributors, associate companies and the media
  • Market data vendors and external third party administrators
  • ASP service providers
  • Regulators

This data tends to be naturally organised  around a set of reference subject areas:

  • Investments such as cash, securities, property and other instruments
  • Investment structures such as funds, portfolios and vehicles
  • Products, i.e. the packaging of things you sell and make profit
  • Organisations and people such as clients, distributors, custodians and fund managers
  • Classifications and hierarchies of all sort

This data gets routinely updated and forms the basis for the really valuable data that comes next:

  • Client sales and purchases
  • Fund transactions and accruals
  • Valuations
  • Performance and risk analysis

The same data gets used in different ways across the enterprise.  That is why Data is different and needs some special treatment in planning and execution.


Why write an Enterprise Data Plan?  There can be many reasons:

  • There are problems that need solving and conventional approaches have not worked
  • There is a recognition that Data planning needs an enterprise perspective
  • To support a funding request and budget allocation
  • To provide a framework for collaboration within the enterprise
  • To build agreement to take action and to get buy-in

What is in the Enterprise Data Plan?  It can cover many aspects. These can include:

    • A statement of the goals and functions of relevant business units
    • A statement of the data required and produced by those units
    • A gap analysis of the current data provision
    • The systems or service options for filling those gaps
    • A statement on the infrastructure considerations
    • A financial plan with costs and benefits
    • An operational plan and organisation


    What time period does it cover?  It needs to cover:

    • The immediate year ahead and then probably
    • A three to five year horizon
    • It may have a long term (10 year) view that should be treated with caution.

    How do we get traction?   There can be many ways to do this.  You can get traction by:

    • Addressing the major problems and opportunities of the enterprise
    • Being clear about your goals, setting expectations and delivering results
    • Making incremental change
    • Having several (maybe parallel) streams to the plan so that you do not have a single point of failure
    • Deliver significant business value at least every six months


    Who writes the Enterprise Data Plan?  

    The CIO, CFO and the COO are usually the best candidates for overall responsibility for the plan.  Dependent upon the specific focus, you will also get buy-in from Investments and Sales & Marketing.   The best plans are written by a team of business and IT.  

    The best approach is top down from senior management and then bottom up.    Top management set the company goals and allocate budgets so you have to get commitment from them.   It needs to be a joint approach to bring in the key stakeholders to support the implementation phase.

    What is the key to writing the successful Enterprise Data Plan?  

    The key is to have processes, people and knowledge necessary to produce the plan quickly and efficiently.  It is important to gather sufficient information, yet not too much detail that it swamps everyone.

    You need to write the plan yourself.  Then you will own it.   Build on processes, people and structures that you already have if that is possible.  If you need outside help then choose people who will supplement your skills and support your processes.   

    That is the best approach.  

    How often should  we revisit the plan?

    Circumstances change.   New products, competition and regulation keep emerging so plans need to be maintained so that they are relevant.   In our experience, plans of this nature, once they are established should be reviewed quarterly and then adjusted along the lines of the annual business cycle. 

    Enterprise Data Planning should become an organisational habit.  Data is here to stay so we need to find ways of managing it that fit with our organisational approach.

    Effective EDM planning is 75% data gathering and 25% inspiration.
     
    EDM Services: Use your energy for the inspirational 25% and use EDMworks for the repetitive tasks.  Find out more.......
     
    EDM Training: Learn how to create effective EDM Plans. Find out more....