I was recently watching a program about some of the biggest architectural disasters in the U.S. One of those highlighted was the Big Dig in Boston, an underground tunnel built to replace a heavily trafficked and outdated bridge. In 2006, about a year after the tunnel was finished, a large section of the roof collapsed. After much investigation, the "quick set" epoxy adhesive used to anchor the bolts into the roof structure was implicated as the problem. The epoxy was used in part because it was less expensive, and the quick setting would allow the job to be completed faster. Makes sense, doesn't it? Faster development at a lower cost—what could be the downside? The $1,300 purchase price of the epoxy resulted in the assessment, re-architecture and repair cost of more than $54 million! Clearly, this was a case of understanding price but not understanding the real value and objective of the total project.

Let's take that lesson into our data warehouse efforts. You'd like to think your company realizes the value of its business data, but do you really know the value of having the data integrated and accessible to your company? If you're just focusing on the cost of providing the environment and trying to minimize that cost as much as possible, you are at risk of missing opportunities to realize the full potential of your data. Data must be used, after all, to help provide answers to your company's questions.

"If you don't know what 'R' is, then you had better make 'I' as small as possible."
—My theory on ROI calculation

I will start at the point where I think the root of the problem manifests itself: namely the infamous return-on-investment (ROI) calculation. Everyone measures cost to the nth degree. IT has budgets, project schedules, tools and capital investments, and many other essentials that contribute to the cost of supporting the data warehouse environment and providing for applications that will be implemented on it.

One reason this is so fundamental is the ever-present change and reorganization in the management ranks. If your data warehouse champion leaves the department or organization, you do not want to re-educate new people as to why certain data warehouse projects are being undertaken. If you have proper measurement and understanding of the project's value, then the data warehouse becomes a vital tool for, rather than a cost of, business.

As an example, when faced with a delay in the development of a new major application, one customer's middle management team got nervous. Threats were made against suppliers, people were working late every night, and a lot of excuses were offered as to why it was not "their" fault. At a meeting to discuss the delays and cost overruns, one executive put everything into perspective. The new application would generate enough bottom-line revenue to pay for the entire development and the hardware platform in less than two weeks. He pointed out that the application was essential to moving the company to a new level. Consequently, the project could not fail, and from that perspective, it was not "too expensive." That is the type of clarity your business leaders must have when executing game-changing endeavors.

I am not implying that cost information is unnecessary, just that it needs to be balanced with what the IT efforts drive from a business perspective. Precisely, what is the "R" on your "I"?

"Ask the dweller, not the builder."
—Greek saying

Any designer can tout a product's value, but until that product is used to its potential, its value can be hidden or unjustified. What is your data doing for your business? As the Greek saying implies, you need to ask the people whose work depends on the data. Your data is only valuable to the company if the users can rely on it to make their decisions—then they must be able to take action based on those decisions.

With the data at hand, front-line users will know if their customers are getting the best service. Managers can identify if their holding and distribution costs are lower because of better inventory management. Marketing strategists will see if their campaign not only attracts but also increases opportunities with their current customers. Users must be included in the discussions when determining the value of your company's data.

One client I visited told me that the data warehouse cost more to run every year, and the company was disappointed in the value returned. When pressed, the client admitted that the cost was growing because of increased data and application demand. I asked how that could be, if there was no associated value to the users, at least according to the company's viewpoint. The client replied that, while the value was not being captured, "it was not what was expected."

It was no surprise that business-led, metric-driven opportunities were not included in the expectations and up-front planning—business return is often seen as soft and difficult to measure, while IT spending is concrete and easy to measure. Executives and business leaders must insist that the same rigor used to identify costs will also be used to measure the results.

Before deciding what your data is worth, it is important to identify opportunities, and then to apply metrics that are defined by those who use the data every day.

"I had to pay much for what I got, but what I got made what I paid for it, much as it was, seem cheap."
—Walt Whitman

Having bought property in Southern California, I know this lesson well. Yes, the price I paid was a lot relative to other parts of the nation, but with land appreciation and the San Diego housing market, the current value of the house makes the price I paid seem extremely cheap. The bottom line in all of our efforts is whether we get value from what we do and in what we invest.

You've educated your user and executive communities on the value in making data accessible and consistent. Now, you must track the results and report them for the benefit of those who helped create and deliver the data warehouse infrastructure.

Too often, IT is left out of the loop in terms of the business value of the data assets. They are expected to keep the engine running, but rarely are they acknowledged for their contribution to helping the end users achieve the resulting benefits.

By acknowledging IT, executive leaders gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the paybacks from their efforts. For example, just asking for a more frequent data load will be seen as a costly initiative that needs to be prioritized with other IT projects. But by explaining that current data could boost sales by a certain percentage, IT and executives can better prioritize and set milestones for development and achievements.

Some organizations are catching on. One company hands out "The Wizard of Oz" awards. This is how its user community recognizes the efforts of the IT professionals for making the magic happen. How is your company tying the efforts of IT to the success of your organization?

"Labor is the true standard of value."
—Abraham Lincoln

Taking Lincoln's quote from a slightly different perspective, one example of how much we value our assets is what actions we take to protect and ensure them. In other words, do we truly expend labor in the areas we proclaim to be our priorities? That question comes to mind whenever I speak with companies that have grand plans for the data warehouse but fail to give the same attention to data quality, data auditing, metrics on actionable decisions and overall governance of the environment.

What are you doing to make sure that your data, arguably one of your greatest corporate assets, is protected and invested in for the future?

In a self-analysis, you should be able to answer some questions—or you should be asking some questions of those people responsible for the data warehouse efforts—starting with the obvious:

	Do we have a steering committee or governance group that sets priorities and directs the data warehouse? If so, is it effective and proactive, or is it a group in name only?
	Does the steering committee have a minimum two-year plan for new business opportunities?
	Does it have the data necessary to support those initiatives? In short, are the executives proving how valuable the data warehouse environment really is by adequately devoting their time to the program?

Similarly, you can ascertain if the business community values the IT environment by ensuring data quality and integration:

	Is it involved in the up-front planning on subject areas and critical data elements?
	Is it involved in the data definition and data domains so that the data model is consistent across subject areas?
	Does it have a quality process in place to not only identify "bad" data and processes but rectify the causes as well?

These actions show that the business community understands the value of the data assets. Once an organization truly values its data assets, a foundation is established that will promote its continued improvement.

The final area to evaluate is whether the IT community recognizes the value of the data environment. The indication would be in the planning and implementation of new projects and applications:

	Do new applications first leverage the data warehouse for access, or do they extract and replicate?
	Do the data teams (acquisition, management and application) have a coordinated point of view on performance, quality and security, or is each team on its own when developing and maintaining the environment?
	Does IT leadership champion reusability and simplification, or are short-term cost and project schedules the overriding concerns?

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
—George Bernard Shaw

The best way to ensure that the data assets are being recognized and valued is through measurement and communication. Don't just assume that people can see or understand the value of your efforts—most organizations are too large for this recognition to happen "by accident."

Several customers with whom I have worked over the years shared examples of communicating not only results but also expectations. They have charts and forecasts posted on walls, including giant thermometer graphs showing progress to date and forecast goals. Slides displaying quarterly results lead off management meetings to set the tone and expectations for the coming quarter. It is an environment of constant communication and a reinforcement of the value in providing integrated, auditable and accessible data.

Your company's data is valuable. You know this, but you need to pass on this message to the rest of your user community—both business and IT. Only by offering metrics up front that relate to the opportunities provided through your data, then driving toward those opportunities through departmental cooperation and data integration, and finally measuring and sharing the results of those opportunities, will you truly create an environment where data becomes a recognized asset as opposed to a necessary liability. T

Teradata Magazine-March 2008