[28-August-2007]

Corporate data quality is frequently poor!

Despite the potential for conserving resources, software utilities for automatic data maintenance are often ignored.

Most companies retain a great deal of errors within their customer data. The fault lies primarily in internal lapses and the lack of technical means to automatically maintain the data. This conclusion has been confirmed by a research study performed by Omikron Data Quality GmbH, the data quality specialist based in Pforzheim, Germany. Over 400 companies having annual sales of over 50 million Euros were questioned.

An error rate of 20% or more was listed in one out of two cases; in one of six cases the rate was over 30%. In two out of every five firms the address data had an error rate between 10% and 20%. In contrast to this, only 7% of the companies questioned replied that their customer information was complete and nearly error-free.

According to Carsten Kraus, CEO of Omikron Data Quality GmbH, the results of the study show that "many companies appear to accept poor data quality, without really knowing what the consequences are.". For example, duplicates are paid for twice in each mailing, and result in a tarnished image. Kraus adds, "Furthermore, corporate management obtains distorted results from analyses and evaluations, which leads to incorrect assumptions and strategic mistakes."

Over two-thirds of the companies questioned admitted that the primary cause of deficiencies in their customer data was a lack of adequate sensitivity for quality requirements. A similar number placed the responsibility for these problems on the fact that no-one in their company had central authority for data maintenance. A lack of personnel was also listed by more than half of the companies as a cause of the problems. Not insignificantly, 61% of these companies lack solutions for automated data maintenance, which could for example perform duplicate checks, postal address correction, address enrichment, and salutation generation.

Omikron‘s CEO sees signs of a turnabout in the market: "Companies are beginning to recognize that insufficient data quality has negative effects on customer communication." Despite this growing appreciation for increased quality in customer data, he nevertheless does not see any reason to rest easy. He commented sceptically, "It does not seem realistic to expect that salutations such as 'Dear Mr. Sales Manager' will disappear in the near future." In too many companies, the action required is simply too large for this to happen that soon.

Questionnaire results:

How high do you think the rate of errors in your customer data is?

What are the primary causes of the insufficient data quality?

About Omikron Data Quality GmbH

Based in Pforzheim, Germany, Omikron Data Quality GmbH is a leading provider in the areas of address management and data quality: Omikron analyses and processes existing data, and also offers comprehensive consultation about all aspects of ensuring data quality — starting from international postal address correction, and continuing all the way to sanction list comparisons. Omikron has been assisting companies to take full advantage of the valuable potential in their databases since 1993. Now offering services internationally, Omikron takes care of the entire Data Quality Lifecycle. Software solutions from Omikron have been implemented for all major corporate applications (such as SAP^® and Siebel).

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