The system process that includes business information and inventory management is called enterprise data management (EDM). This is a rather complicated process that requires the participation of the management of the company. It is worth explaining this definition in simpler terms. When an EDM system is properly and efficiently built across a company, employees can be guided by the most accurate data. And due to the structure, all the necessary information will be provided in a timely manner and in the required volume. All of this will be stored in a location that meets the following criteria:
- Standardization. Important information for the company should be located in a place that meets the standards relevant to its storage.
- Safety. It is essential that data be protected from two basic threats – theft and damage.
- Adjustability. Specialists who work with the specific data necessary to ensure the life of the company should have unhindered access to them. This means that all options related to the environment for finding data must be properly ordered and adjusted.
It is worth moving on to how the EDM system works in more detail. Today we will consider this issue in more detail.
Who is responsible for managing company data
If we start from the statement about how important enterprise data management is, it is worth touching on the question of specialists who are to a key extent entrusted with this task. In different companies, these positions may be called differently and differ in some secondary job functions. But in key parameters, they are the same, regardless of how the wording of the profession sounds in a particular case. So, the main varieties of professions in this direction are:
- Database administrators. Here we are talking about employees for whom the EDM function is key in their work.
- IT administrators. This wording refers to professionals who perform several key tasks. One of these tasks is EDM, but this does not exhaust the job responsibilities of such employees.
- IT project managers. This position is even more extensive when viewed from the point of view of the range of tasks entrusted to such professionals. Corporate data management is just one of many areas of work for them. This position requires not only knowledge of the industry and its features but also strong skills in project management.
The management of each enterprise chooses for itself which specialist from the listed spectrum it needs in order for the EDM function to be performed at the proper level. Most often, the scale of the company is decisive. Large businesses or cloud for SMBs may need a DBA. It is connected with colossal arrays of data. If we are talking about a large enterprise where there is a need to manage large-scale databases, a database administrator may be required. He will focus on such work and will not scatter his attention on other secondary tasks. And if the databases are not so extensive, then the specialists mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the list above will cope well with them.
Whatever the position of such an employee is called, a very specific list of responsibilities in terms of EDM is assigned to him. This effective data management makes them more secure from hacks, parsing errors, and various legal complications.
With regard to the latter, such complications are possible if the information in the cloud or in place is too vulnerable.
What are the benefits of EDM?
By making data management a top priority for your company, you can ensure that your employees and customers’ information is in a safe place. And you also can ensure that the data is available for their intended use, which allows to improve the quality of interaction.
- Access to high-quality data, which opens up the possibility for accurate analytics;
- The right accents in the work and the ability to adapt the data to the standards relevant to this area;
- Efficient data architecture that is easy to scale as the company itself scales;
- The ability to consolidate information from various sources to improve the efficiency of this process.
When you take the EDM system seriously, it makes the entire work of your company and followers more streamlined. The process of data management becomes not chaotic, but orderly. You always know where and how you can find the information you need. And it also allows you to open access to specific categories of data exactly to those employees who need it to perform their immediate work tasks.
By the way, the size of the global market in the enterprise data management industry was estimated at almost $90 billion in 2022 in the United States. Its compound annual growth rate from this year to 2030 is expected to be 12.1 percent. This indicates the demand for EDM systems.