Make Your Data Work for You, Not Against You

How Data Normalization Will Help You Get Your Strategy Right

Let's be honest: your data is a mess and it’s slowing you down. Teams rely on systems, including ITSM tools like JSM or ServiceNow, and project management platforms like Jira, Confluence or Asana to get work done, track progress, and make critical decisions. But what happens when the data inside those systems is messy, inconsistent, or just plain wrong? The tools designed to drive efficiency and clarity become sources of frustration, wasted effort, and potentially disastrous missteps.

Bad data isn't just an IT problem; it's a business problem, silently sabotaging your strategic goals. It breeds mistrust, forces teams into time-consuming workarounds (hello, shadow spreadsheets!), and leads to decisions based on gut feelings rather than reliable facts. Sound familiar? It's time to stop fighting your data and start making it a trusted asset.

The Hidden Costs of Letting Bad Data Slide

The impact of poor data quality often flies under the radar, masked as everyday friction. Consider these common symptoms:

• Inconsistent Fields: Is "Due Date" used consistently? Do different teams interpret the same field differently? This ambiguity makes accurate reporting nearly impossible.
• Missing Information: Critical fields left blank mean incomplete pictures, forcing manual follow-ups and delaying processes.
• Free-Text Chaos: Using open text fields where standardized options (like dropdowns or select lists) should exist invites inconsistency and makes aggregation and analysis a nightmare.
• Stale or Duplicate Data: Outdated information leads to wasted effort, while duplicates skew metrics and reporting.

The result? Hours wasted manually cleaning up data, chasing down correct information, or simply giving up and declaring reports unreliable. Confidence plummets. Strategic initiatives stall because you can't get a clear view of reality. This isn't just inefficiency; it's a direct hit to your bottom line and your ability to compete. 

To turn this around, first you have to acknowledge the problem–that if your data s*cks, so does your strategy. Then you're ready to commit to building a foundation of trustworthy data.

Building a Foundation of Trust: From Chaos to Clarity

Creating reliable data isn’t magic; it’s about establishing solid practices and leveraging your tools effectively. Here’s how to build a data foundation you can depend on to improve your data integrity:

1. Standardize and Define: Identify critical data points. Define exactly what each field means and how it should be used. Replace free-text fields with standardized options (select lists, required fields) wherever possible.
2. Implement Governance: Establish clear rules for data entry and maintenance. Who is responsible for ensuring data quality? Define ownership and processes. Ensure that data fields are dependent on primary keys or other attributes for their value to maintain data integrity.
3. Leverage Automation: Use the built-in capabilities of your tools (like Jira automation) to enforce rules. Automatically populate fields, require specific information based on workflow transitions, and prevent inconsistent entries before they happen.
4. Conduct Regular Audits: Don’t set it and forget it. Periodically review your data quality. Use dashboards or reports to identify inconsistencies, gaps, or areas needing attention. Treat data hygiene as an ongoing process, not a one-off project.

By implementing these foundational elements, you shift from reactive data cleanup to proactive data quality management. When you have proper data taxonomy, your data starts working for your strategy, not against it.

From Guesswork to Growth: Making Decisions That Stick

The ultimate goal of clean, reliable data is confident decision-making. When stakeholders trust the reports and dashboards generated from your systems, you unlock significant advantages:

• Strategic Alignment: You can accurately track progress against key objectives, identify roadblocks early, and allocate resources effectively based on real information.
• Increased Velocity: Teams spend less time questioning data and more time executing. Clear data streamlines workflows and communication.
• Confident Leadership: Leaders can make informed, high-impact decisions knowing they are based on a solid factual foundation, not guesswork or anecdotal evidence.
• Measurable Improvement: You can reliably measure the impact of changes and initiatives, demonstrating value and driving continuous improvement cycles.

Good data transforms conversations from "Can we trust this number?" to "What action should we take based on this insight?"

Start Small, Win Big: The Power of Incremental Normalization

The prospect of cleaning up years of inconsistent data across an entire enterprise can feel overwhelming. Don’t try to boil the ocean. The most effective approach is often incremental:

• Identify High-Impact Areas: Which data points cause the most pain or are most critical for reporting? Start there.
• Normalize Key Fields: Focus on standardizing one or two crucial fields first (e.g., ‘Status,’ ‘Priority,’ ‘Component’). Implement automation and governance around these. New tables should be created to properly organize subsets of data and eliminate redundancy.
• Show Value, Build Momentum: Demonstrate the improved reporting and efficiency gained from cleaning up just one area. Use this success to justify expanding efforts. Storing data in a logical manner facilitates easier access and analysis.
• Expand Incrementally: Gradually apply these normalization and governance practices to other fields and processes.

Each small win in data normalization builds trust and contributes to a larger picture of enterprise-wide visibility. Consistent, incremental effort yields significant long-term results, making reliable data an achievable goal, not an insurmountable challenge.

Want proof? Check out this article on how one organizations gain reporting clarity, no disruptive “transformation” required.

Enter Enterprise Visibility 

A recent study found that 86% of respondents need access to real time reporting of ERP data to make smart business decisions, yet "only 23% of responding companies have systems in place to make that possible."

In a data-driven enterprise, near-real-time data is woven through every process, tool, and business decision, with minimal intervention and maximum clarity. In this reality, leaders and teams can see at a glance the actual cost of work for each project or job, and how the work being delivered is impacting the bottom line and moving the needle on strategy.

Creating that kind of real-time visibility is possible but there is no magic potion or easy button; normalizing your data is the critical first step. Good data taxonomy enhances the efficiency and organization of a database system, ensuring a standardized data format across the entire system to facilitate easier querying and analysis— in other words, it helps your different tools talk to each other so your reports make sense. 

The end result? A single-pane-of-glass dashboard to help you align everyone from stakeholders, to executives and technical teams to your strategic goals. It takes time to establish visibility throughout the enterprise, but the effort is worth it. 

According to a survey by McKinsey, enhanced visibility between teams and leadership is proven to improve operational effectiveness by 30-50%.

Bonus… Better data taxonomy will also improve your AI outputs. 

Stop Letting Bad Data Dictate Your Potential

Your systems hold immense potential, but only if fueled by reliable data. Ignoring data quality issues is no longer an option – it’s actively hindering your progress. By focusing on building a solid foundation, leveraging automation, implementing governance, and embracing incremental improvements, your team can transform your data from a liability into a powerful strategic asset and finally step into your Big Dashboard Energy. 

Addressing data quality issues is crucial to unlock the true value of your tools and data. 

Ready to build data you can trust and make decisions with confidence? Praecipio has the expertise to help you assess your current state, implement best practices, and unlock the true value of your tools and data.