Skip to main content

Data Capability: Characteristics query tool

<< Back to query tools

Level Dimension Theme Assessment Question Characteristics
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Are there regular failures with business critical systems associated with data activities or operations? Failures of critical business systems can occur with little or no warning. The root cause is most likely to be data related
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation How cross functional is collaboration to mitigate risks/fix problems with operational data? There is no collaboration between cross disciplinary teams to diagnose/troubleshoot/resolve data issues
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Is the quality of data regularly problematic in terms of frequent data operations? Data is of inconsistent quality, and that quality is impossible to measure
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? There is not much difference between scheduled and unscheduled operations
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? It always feels like we are firefighting, because we are struggling to keep up with demands of operational and change activity
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? I feel like a headless chicken, running to catch up on a treadmill
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Is data collected for which there is no obvious purpose? Data collection for collection's sake with no obvious rationale other than 'we've always done this'
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Is data lost/corrupted during initial collection activities? Loss (but how much is unknown) of data in collection process
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Things are done differently each time even when we're doing the same thing!
0 Chaotic Activities Data Activities and Operation Are data activities prioritised over other things that need to be done? The only priority for data activities is to fix whatever is broken right now!
0 Chaotic Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What is your organisation's approach/capability around analytics? We have no analytics capability other than spreadsheets in individual departments
0 Chaotic Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How are tools developed and deployed in support of data management operations? We have no formal requirements or funding for any technology solutions to support a wider data capability or just daily operations
0 Chaotic Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What specific data quality management activities are embedded in your organisation? We have no formal data quality management activities in the organisation
0 Chaotic Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? The value of outputs from data are unknown - both in terms of what they are and to whom they provide value
0 Chaotic Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation Are data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior management level? We have no data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior level due to lack of buy-in
0 Chaotic Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? We fix on fail. No analysis of why the failure occurred is done. We do not track issues after resolution
0 Chaotic Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities. eg. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We don't have specific roles or any concept of why we would need them
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We do not have a data improvement strategy in place and there is a sense of apathy towards such initiatives across the business
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? There is no data modeling carried out in our organisation that is current or referencable
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How is Meta Data management used in your organisation? We don't have any formal meta data available for any of our core or non core datasets
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? There is no concept of data architecture in our organisation. Therefore we have no formal vision, metrics, principles, etc.
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? We have some physical models, but nothing at a logical or conceptual model
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We don't know what to do next because we don't know what's important, or even what's broken
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? We don't have any aspirations for data so it's hard to decide where to invest time/money/effort
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Is there a chain of accountability for data quality security, mastering, etc? Development silos are the norm, there are no integrated development initiatives so data is fragmented/misused
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? The AS-IS state of data is not understood, and the data landscape is not documented
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What level of documentation exists for the datasets? Data operations are very people centric with no documentation to support sickness, leave, etc.
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? We have no concept of best practice. Our data management is chaotic and we don't have time to understand scope and reach
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? Yes. We have no idea how many, where they are or what they are used for. Therefore no master copy exists
0 Chaotic Deliverables People and Culture How are data management principles and goals embedded into wider policy documents? We don't believe data is referenced in any organisational policies
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? We don't have a defined owner or sponsor for any of our core datasets. Individual and unofficial owners are lost in business silos
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it We have no Enterprise Architecture function in our organisation
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture Is there a chain of accountability for data quality security, mastering, etc Core operational data is living in multiple spreadsheets dispersed in lots of different departments/faculties
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation Organisational culture does not understand the value of data at all
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Data is invisible and not consciously processed (not an end in and of itself)
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? We don't really understand what we collect/process/deliver or even why
0 Chaotic Org and Culture People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Data has no obvious value to anyone outside of those informally stewarding it
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique People and Culture Do data specific roles exist for data management activities. eg. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? There are no clear or well understood formal data governance or data management roles and/or activities
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique People and Culture What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? There is no clear or published data management strategy
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? We have no real idea where even the core data is stored/archived
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique People and Culture Is there a chain of accountability for data quality security, mastering, etc? Nobody knows who has permission to access the data or who has accessed it
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? No one has overall responsibility for information asset ownership, so management is fragmented/missing
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique People and Culture Is there a chain of accountability for data quality security, mastering, etc? Many datasets exist in different parts of the business, seemingly holding the same data
0 Chaotic Activities Business Process How do you identify issues with your data? We have no way of uncovering the unknown issues that exist within our data as business users work-around problems rather than reporting them
0 Chaotic Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? There is a lack of repeatability for standard activities and outputs, so we have to start again every time
0 Chaotic Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Extracting, changing and reloading data is very expensive and not standardised - even for frequent operational activities
0 Chaotic Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Data operations are very process light with no formal business processes in place
0 Chaotic Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Our reporting obligations/funding submissions are chaotic and incredibly time consuming
0 Chaotic Deliverables Business Process Is there a business continuity process/strategy for data? We've never seen a business continuity plan so we assume not!
0 Chaotic Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We don't measure quality or create any other data specific metrics
0 Chaotic Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We cannot always identify when data/data outputs are needed
0 Chaotic Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? To collect/collate data for my job, I have to go and 'find it' or 'ask for it' every time
0 Chaotic Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We are seemingly fully reliant on individuals not processes to perform daily activities
0 Chaotic Org and Culture Business Process How is the impact of organisation change assessed against current or future data management capabilities? We don't consider the impact of change at all. We just try and fit it in as it happens
0 Chaotic Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We don't seem to have any formal impact analysis to understand changes to business process affecting data
0 Chaotic Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? Data is not integrated with any programme of change
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Business Process How reliant is your organisation on systemised tools or well understood processes when resolving data quality issues? We are heavily reliant on manual techniques when dealing with operational data issues
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Business Process How are the data management processes integrated with the wider business processes? We have not mapped out any processes for data so we cannot integrate them with wider business processes
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Business Process How secure is your data? How is that security maintained and audited? We don't know whether our data is secure, and we don't know how to find out
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Business Process How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? We duplicate time and effort, without wider communication, to solve the same problems
0 Chaotic Practices and Technique Business Process How is organisation risk appetite applied to security/quality etc datasets? We do no risk assessments on our datasets. We have no idea if we are operating legally or within regulatory compliance
0 Chaotic Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (eg. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? We're not managing data across its full lifecycle, as investment in this area is not seen as a priority
0 Chaotic Technology Technology If technology solutions are in place for data management, how widely are they used across the whole organisation? We don't use any data quality technology solutions to help manage our operational data
0 Chaotic Technology Technology How reliant is your organisation on systemised tools or well understood processes when resolving data quality issues? Data activities and deliverables are supported by non specific technology or technology providing no measureable value
0 Chaotic Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (eg. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? Technology dependencies are hindering us in managing our data
1 Reactive Activities Data Activities and Operation How cross functional is collaboration to mitigate risks/fix problems with operational data? There is some ad-hoc collaboration between IT, operations and other business units to fix serious problems
1 Reactive Activities Data Activities and Operation Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? The majority of data operations are Fix on Fail
1 Reactive Activities Data Activities and Operation Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? We are running to catch up and nearly got there, until the next thing comes along
1 Reactive Activities Data Activities and Operation Are there regular failures with business critical systems associated with data activities or operations? Every week we have a number of on-fire incidents/near misses that cannot be predicted
1 Reactive Activities Data Activities and Operation Is the quality of data regularly problematic in terms of frequent data operations? We clean data far too late so we spend a huge amount of time manually modifying it to get it to a minimum quality state
1 Reactive Activities Data Activities and Operation Is data collected for which there is no obvious purpose? We definitely collect data we don't use or collect more than once. We don't know if something will break if we stop collecting it though
1 Reactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How are tools developed and deployed in support of data management operations? There is inconsistent adoption of some data quality tools across the organisation leading to them falling out of use as staff leave
1 Reactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What specific data quality management activities are embedded in your organisation? Our DQM activities tend to be at the wrong end of the data lifecycle - cleaning dirty data after it's been entered
1 Reactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? There are a number of physical/logical models but they exist informally and are incomplete
1 Reactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? Demand outstrips supply so non urgent requests are dropped and we struggle to deal with the urgent ones
1 Reactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? The majority of our work is on managing legacy datasets for operational effectiveness
1 Reactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? Data is in silo - hard for it to be compared with other datasets
1 Reactive Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation Are data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior management level? We have some ideas that tend to be specific to big problems we're trying to fix. These initiatives can get priority if they are important
1 Reactive Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? We track issues as they occur, but we do not have time for root cause analysis unless it's a very serious issue
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We have some good ideas, but nothing formal enough to call a plan. We tend to be 'fix and forget'
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? Some data models exist at the physical and (some) logical layers. Tend to be developed on a project by project basis
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How is Meta Data management used in your organisation? Meta data is used - where available - to help understand impacts to datasets, but no formal taxonomy is in place
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? There is no formal data architecture but some of the concepts are partially implemented around information governance
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? There is little data governance activity outside of regulatory compliance
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? There is very little planning or appetite for improving data management
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What level of documentation exists for the datasets? We have mostly silo knowledge around datasets so the data isn't universally understood
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Data is living a subsistence life
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We do not have a balance of People/Process/Technology - we are always led by one
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? We have some idea of data mastering and we are aware of the location of at least some of the multiple copies of core data
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? Paper based data is not reconciled in core datasets
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? We have an awareness of the scope and reach of data but no control over how it is used
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We only seem to have silo thinking around data, no concept of value of ownership and stewardship
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? No standard definitions of data e.g. student, course even internally
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? Faculty and registry student data doesn't reconcile and changes are not supported by robust business process
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities,e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? Our organisation has an 'informal' network of roles but they are not defined
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities, e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We perform the most basic data management roles, mainly around data cleaning, but they are not formalised
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities, e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We do have wider data governance/data management aspirations, but the roles are not filled
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Are all your data activities considered to be IT activities? We are very IT focused on our data activities so not integrated with whatever the wider business is doing
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities, e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We have a major reliance on knowledge of individuals. Not necessarily the best approach(may be pragmatic though)
1 Reactive Activities People and Culture Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? We are always firefighting, we can never take a step back to assess how we can improve
1 Reactive Activities People and Culture Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? People have to go to extreme lengths/work long hours just to 'keep the lights on' so there is not time/energy to improve anything
1 Reactive Activities People and Culture Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? Huge resource effort required to deliver the basic functions i.e. extracting, loading and changing data between datasets
1 Reactive Activities People and Culture Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? Huge effort to make quality returns to HESA/HEFCE/etc
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture How is organisation risk appetite applied to security/quality etc datasets? We know when our core datasets do not match our risk appetite. We don't always do anything about it
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture How secure is your data? How is that security maintained and audited? We don't have a risk management framework to support our known risks in our datasets
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? Responsibility for data operations is held within the IT team. Accountability for datasets is jointly held by IT and some business owners
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it? There is no formal EA function but our data governance is informally integrated with solution architecture etc.
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture How are data management principles and goals embedded into wider policy documents? We have some policies around data but they are not well communicated nor respected
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? There is no strategic investment or focus on data from senior staff
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture Are data activities prioritised over other things that need to be done? Other activities are always seen as more important than improving our data quality and troubleshooting
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture What level of documentation exists for the datasets? Documentation is mostly in peoples heads, not in data models or business rules
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture Are data activities prioritised over other things that need to be done? Improvements to data management not recognised as a priority
1 Reactive Org and Culture People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? We have a lack of ownership of core and peripheral datasets
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture Is there a chain of accountability for data quality security, mastering, etc? Our data is held in silo and probably in many different repositories. Certainly more than one!
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? There is a lack of business ownership for data assets
1 Reactive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture How do you identify issues with your data? We have no way of proactively managing data quality issues and they only come to light when raised by the business on an ad-hoc basis
1 Reactive Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We have a number of standard processes for known activities especially around collection obligations/funding
1 Reactive Activities Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? Disruption causes trouble because it cannot be managed as there is no spare capacity
1 Reactive Activities Business Process Is there a business continuity process/strategy for data? There is a lack of and/or untested business continuity around the information assets
1 Reactive Activities Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We are always responding to issues as they arrive, there is no 'pipeline' or schedule
1 Reactive Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Do and forget mentality - no defined business process for many repeatable activities
1 Reactive Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Process fails when key people are ill/go on leave
1 Reactive Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We don't provide quality measurements regularly, but we can deliver it on a per project/per issue basis if needed
1 Reactive Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Our basic operational processes are documented, and our frequent ETL is understood
1 Reactive Deliverables Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We can provide some kind of impact analysis on request but not with any SLA behind it for time or quality
1 Reactive Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We have frequent challenges meeting arbitrary targets that are hard to measure
1 Reactive Org and Culture Business Process How is the impact of organisation change assessed against current or future data management capabilities? We tend to find out about it after everyone else! It is difficult to understand the impact as we don't fully understand the current state
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Business Process How reliant is your organisation on systemised tools or well understood processes when resolving data quality issues? We have tactical point tools within individual department applications but still rely heavily on manual analysis for issue resolution
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Business Process How are the data management processes integrated with the wider business processes? We have some defined data processes but they are not well aligned with wider business process
1 Reactive Practices and Technique Business Process How do you identify issues with your data? Firefighting issues without ever having time to perform root cause analysis
1 Reactive Deliverables Technology What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? Data cannot be analysed to support operational or strategic decision making
1 Reactive Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (e.g. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? Technology does not support our data lifecycle in any recognised manner. We have some tools but no real processes to use them
1 Reactive Technology Technology If technology solutions are in place for data management, how widely are they used across the whole organisation? We tend to deploy technology tactically on a per project basis
1 Reactive Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (e.g. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? We are absolutely dependent on technology but it constrains how we operate
2 Stable Activities Data Activities and Operation How cross functional is collaboration to mitigate risks/fix problems with operational data? We have a forum for sharing issues around quality and other data management issues
2 Stable Activities Data Activities and Operation Is the quality of data regularly problematic in terms of frequent data operations? Our core datasets are of acceptable quality, but its hard work to keep them that way
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How are tools developed and deployed in support of data management operations? We have invested in tools but never provided the support/time to get the best use out of them
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? Informal SLA for data retrieval and other frequent requests
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How is organisation risk appetite applied to security/quality etc datasets? We believe our risk appetite matches assessed risk for key/core datasets and we have quality aspirations for these datasets
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How is organisation risk appetite applied to security/quality etc datasets? We would not be too frightened if we were to be ISO audited
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? We have a basic and people driven analytical capability for one or two datasets
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? We have a management information 'hub' available
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Resources/operations are aligned to documented business processes at least in part
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Are data activities prioritised over other things that need to be done? Known data outputs - especially those relating to funding or regulatory matters - are prioritised. But improvement activity is not
2 Stable Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Is data collected for which there is no obvious purpose? There is some confusion around why some data is collected, but we understand our primary data feeds and where the master copies are
2 Stable Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation Are data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior management level? Senior management are aware of the value of data improvement, but support is project or issue based
2 Stable Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? We track and record all data issues, but we do not record the resolution in a way it can be re-used
2 Stable Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? Our risks and issues are reasonably well known and mostly managed
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? The data management function is just fit for purpose and no more. Therefore we do have some best practice but it's not well embedded
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We have data quality targets and KPIs, but these are not always measured and the benefits of improving data management is not well understood
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? data modelling carried out in a consistent manner to support logical and physical models, but no formal conceptual models
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How is meta data management used in your organisation? Meta data is available (if not complete) for the core datasets, but generally developed within the IT or operations team
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? We have some formal roles, an information lifecycle, and some metrics, but no formal information governance defined
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? Physical/logical data models exist and are maintained for most structured datasets
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How is Meta Data management used in your organisation? There is a nascent, tentative description of data in the core datasets
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? We have some modelling capability within the data team
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? We have a nascent data architecture function but the value is not fully understood
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? Data principles, roadmap may exist but are not communicated widely or embedded in business rules/change
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? We have a data architecture function but it is not fully staffed nor does it have a mandate for real enterprise wide change
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? We have basic mastering/single version of the truth for our core datasets, even if this means we just know where the copies are
2 Stable Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How secure is your data? How is that security maintained and audited? We have a technical security framework for our core datasets, and have sufficient confidence in that to be formally internal audited
2 Stable Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We have a limited number of data specific roles working in operational silos supporting department/faculty objectives
2 Stable Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We have some basic data governance, primarily in operations but not much data management after that
2 Stable Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? Networks have formed internally - but informally - for data management roles
2 Stable Org and Culture People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? Core Datasets are a jointly owned asset between those managing the data and those accountable for it. None core data has unclear accountability
2 Stable Practices and Technique People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? There is some understanding of the value of data outside of technology group, although not consistently amongst the most senior staff
2 Stable Practices and Technique People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? IT manage data, business own it in principle but not always in practice
2 Stable Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? Wider data governance practice defined but not implemented in all roles/activities
2 Stable Activities Business Process Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? Our most repeated activities are reasonably well resourced. We struggle to deal with change or new initiatives though
2 Stable Activities Business Process How do you identify issues with your data? We have a forum/governance body where business units can come together to raise issues and work on specific action plans
2 Stable Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? There is internal transparency for data activities 'we know what we know'
2 Stable Activities Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We understand our basic data operations and known ETL requirements/deliverables
2 Stable Activities Business Process How are FOI requests managed by your organisation? FOI - we understand how to manage data requests
2 Stable Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We have patchy measurement around the core datasets
2 Stable Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We have some measurement of how well we are doing
2 Stable Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We are using other people's data to add value to own data
2 Stable Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? There is a lack of debate about whether a target has been achieved, and what measures we should take it if hasn't
2 Stable Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We can produce timely and accurate data returns and trust our outputs/quality metrics
2 Stable Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We have a well planned approach to evaluations/collections/returns
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process Is there a business continuity process/strategy for data? Data is included in the plan, but we don't test it as the business changes so we're not confident it'll work
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process How is the impact of organisation change assessed against current or future data management capabilities? We are generally represented on the larger projects and change initiatives, but we still find out many changes too late to analyse them properly
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? Impact analysis capability is available but restricted in terms of limited time to provide it
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? Data considered as part of change portfolio
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We can now allocate resource to non operational tasks
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We can understand and sometimes plan for external impact on data
2 Stable Org and Culture Business Process How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Heavily procedural/bureaucratic approach to those wanting quick responses
2 Stable Practices and Technique Business Process How reliant is your organisation on systemised tools or well understood processes when resolving data quality issues? We use data quality software to measure the quality of our primary datasets, but do not use it for resolution of issues
2 Stable Practices and Technique Business Process How are the data management processes integrated with the wider business processes? We have mapped out our operational processes allowing us to replicate frequent activities in our operational teams
2 Stable Practices and Technique Business Process How are Data Management principles and goals embedded into wider policy documents? We have data policies, but rarely invoke sanctions if they are breached
2 Stable Practices and Technique Business Process How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Business cares about quality and use of data for a small number of datasets
2 Stable Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (e.g. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? We analyse data with specific tools so we can measure quality of key datasets and provide some automation of manual processes
2 Stable Technology Technology If technology solutions are in place for data management, how widely are they used across the whole organisation? The technology we use is for IT or operations only
2 Stable Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (e.g. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? We have limited data specific technology partially integrated with wider solutions. It is IT led
3 Proactive Activities Data Activities and Operation How cross functional is collaboration to mitigate risks/fix problems with operational data? Multi disciplinary teams work together to resolve data issues - either tactically or as part of a data improvement programme
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How are tools developed and deployed in support of data management operations? We invest in a range of point tools and technology platforms and try to integrate them where possible
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? Data architecture is understood and embedded but not across all disciplines. Formal data governance bodies exist and are seen to add value
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? Data architecture and strategy are in place and supported by exec/senior management
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We can move our attention away from core operations because we feel we are operating efficiently and effectively
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What is your organisation's approach/capability around analytics ? We can combine datasets both externally and internally to create useful new datasets and insights
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? A Business Intelligence function is in place and providing decisions support to more than one department/faculty
3 Proactive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? Our daily activities are well understood, staffed and processed efficiently. We are able to handle unexpected events and periods of additional work
3 Proactive Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation Are data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior management level? Some data improvement initiatives are supported/run at a senior management level although they often lose support in the long-term
3 Proactive Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? We track, prioritise, record issues in a way they can be used in future problem management, and be auditable to ISO standards
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? We have the capability and capacity to create new datasets and insights from multiple trusted data sources
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? We have a data improvement strategy with performance measures that are monitored and assessed
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it? EIM (or DA) is integrated as part of a full spectrum domain EA group and contributes heavily to EA roadmaps, visions and outcomes
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? We don't keep data longer than we need to. We have applied our organisational risk appetite to our data archiving policy
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it? We regularly run PESTLE and other horizon scanning analysis to understand and respond to threats/opportunities
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation How would you describe your approach to data modelling? Conceptual schemas are complete, maintained and in use for both operational and change activities
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? We trust (most of) our data, understand it, and know what will happen when we change it. Our best practice ensures we look after it
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Is data collected for which there is no obvious purpose? We use our data models and business processes to root out unneeded data
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? A single version of the truth is in place, in line with our data models and data governance for core datasets
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? We have a number of data specific roles which confer accountability across a variety of departments, for both operations and business change
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? There has been a formalisation of data governance and data management function and roles
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? Operational data management is proceduralised and auditable
3 Proactive Deliverables People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? We have the capability to unlock potential from data assets for many business areas
3 Proactive Deliverables People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? We have a repeatable capability to derive value from the data we have by creating decision support outputs/etc
3 Proactive Deliverables People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Our data output is matched to Institutional expectations of what is required and what we can afford to pay to create it
3 Proactive Org and Culture People and Culture How would you describe your approach to data modelling? Business is modelled through conceptual/logical/physical layers and modelling integrated into change activity
3 Proactive Org and Culture People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? Core datasets have a single point of ownership, but non core data still resides in silos where ownership and sponsorship is unclear
3 Proactive Org and Culture People and Culture Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We have metrics and quality assessment in place for data deemed important by senior management
3 Proactive Practices and Technique People and Culture How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? Organisational culture puts data in the lead when developing new services
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture Are data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior management level? We have organisational governance structures with clear remits around data improvement
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture How is organisation risk appetite applied to security/quality etc datasets? We have the ability to manage risk with data in line with organisational risk appetite and the same for quality
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? Good practice data management is in place and auditable
3 Proactive Activities Business Process How do you identify issues with your data? When issues are reported we attempt to understand the root cause of the issue and fix as part of a data improvement initiative
3 Proactive Deliverables Business Process Is there a business continuity process/strategy for data? Data is a key part of the BCP plan and well integrated with the operational processes that come into play during such an event. We test at least twice a year
3 Proactive Deliverables Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? We can just 'push the button' to process our most repeatable transactions/processes
3 Proactive Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? We measure the impact of data quality across multiple departments and report to senior management
3 Proactive Deliverables Business Process What specific data quality management activities are embedded in your organisation? DQM is at the heart of our KPI/measurement framework. We set the quality required of datasets based on business need
3 Proactive Deliverables Business Process How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? We are investing in exploiting data in many business areas and new developments
3 Proactive Deliverables Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? Our processes are well defined and understood, so it is simple to modify them as the organisation changes. Projects always have data representation
3 Proactive Org and Culture Business Process How is the impact of organisation change assessed against current or future data management capabilities? We work with project/change teams to ensure data assets are built/maintained as part of these changes
3 Proactive Org and Culture Business Process How is Meta Data management used in your organisation? Meta data is developed by the information asset owners and is available as part of a lineage/audit process of change
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process Are data activities prioritised over other things that need to be done? Priorities are embedded in the data improvement plan which is sponsored by an accountable individual. We modify this as new priorities emerge
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process How secure is your data? How is that security maintained and audited? Our data is secured in line with the organisational risk appetite and we are regularly externally audited to ISO standards
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process Is the quality of data regularly problematic in terms of frequent data operations? We set, monitor and maintain quality metrics for the majority of our data, and any remedial work is mostly automated
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it? We are able to meet businesses needs within a sound, proven framework
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process How reliant is your organisation on systemised tools or well understood processes when resolving data quality issues? We use data quality software for root cause analysis of issues and for analysing specific data metrics across most datasets
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process How are the data management processes integrated with the wider business processes? We have clearly mapped the flow of information across the organisation in order to understand the impact of business change on data models
3 Proactive Practices and Technique Business Process How are the data management processes integrated with the wider business processes? we have a clear organisation wide understanding of processes and who owns them
3 Proactive Roles and Responsibilities Business Process How are data management principles and goals embedded into wider policy documents? We have built actionable policies across multiple functions and they form part of our wider policy library
3 Proactive Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (e.g. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? We analyse data so changes and improvements in data quality etc. is measurable and demonstrable
3 Proactive Technology Technology If technology solutions are in place for data management, how widely are they used across the whole organisation? The technology we deploy is for 2-4 specific departments or deployed for larger business change projects
4 Predictive Activities Data Activities and Operation How cross functional is collaboration to mitigate risks/fix problems with operational data? Data issues are worked on collaboratively between all functions, and prioritised according to wider business initiatives and needs
4 Predictive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation How are tools developed and deployed in support of data management operations? We take a platform approach with any discreet best-of-breed point tools integrated into our management framework
4 Predictive Deliverables Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? Data architecture forms part of our wider strategic governance and is viewed as important and useful across the whole organisation including senior staff
4 Predictive Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation Are data improvement initiatives sponsored at a senior management level? All data improvement initiatives are sponsored by senior management with strong support for providing the resources needed to undertake them
4 Predictive Org and Culture Data Activities and Operation How are issues tracked, resolved and audited? Does this include root cause analysis? We collect, prioritise, resolve and record all issues in a standard management framework which includes sophisticated root cause analysis
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation What does the function of Enterprise Information management do in your organisation (if it exists)? We use data to help plan and assess our future needs and consider changes well in advance of when they are needed
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do you have a clear data improvement strategy? If so, how is that manifested? Our data improvement strategy links the outputs to the wider organisational initiatives and is monitored by senior management
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it? EIM (or DA) is a driver of value propositions through the EA function and seen to represent a key part of organisational strategy
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Does your organisation have an Enterprise Architecture function, and if so how is EIM integrated within it? Our planning horizon is 2-4 years. We plan projects to develop future capabilities, not to solve operational issues
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Do data specific roles exist for data management activities e.g. Data Governance Lead, Data Steward etc? Our organisation has a range of data 'super-users' in every part of the business advocating and supporting data as an organisational asset
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Data Activities and Operation Are there principles, goals and best practices in place to understand the scope and reach of data? We have defined and respected data principles, goals and practices which are applied to all of our data operations
4 Predictive Org and Culture People and Culture How do you manage data ownership across the whole organisation? We have a senior management sponsor for all data assets in our organisation. Information asset ownership is well distributed across the organisation
4 Predictive Org and Culture People and Culture How would you describe your approach to data modelling? Data modelling is a key part of value chain/new service design and what if-analysis
4 Predictive Roles and Responsibilities People and Culture Are data activities prioritised over other things that need to be done? Data is core to our operations and strategy and therefore is considered a high priority activity
4 Predictive Activities Business Process How do you identify issues with your data? We have a well defined issue resolution process which is business as usual
4 Predictive Activities Business Process Are you constantly 'running to stay still' with your daily data activities? Daily activities are largely automated and supported by simple business processes. It is very rare we need to intervene
4 Predictive Deliverables Business Process Do you measure data quality? If so, how do you set your metrics and who monitors them? Organisation wide data quality (and other metrics) are monitored as a business as usual activity at the most senior level
4 Predictive Deliverables Business Process What specific data quality management activities are embedded in your organisation? DQM is fully embedded in our organisation and metrics are used in senior dashboards
4 Predictive Deliverables Business Process How are data management principles and goals embedded into wider policy documents? We ensure that the principles and goals of best practice data management are embedded and advocated in all appropriate policy documents
4 Predictive Deliverables Business Process Is there a business continuity process/strategy for data? Data drives a significant portion of the BCP plan as data availability is core to our operations during an event. We ensure the plans are always up to date and regularly tested
4 Predictive Org and Culture Business Process How is the impact of organisation change assessed against current or future data management capabilities? Data Capabilities play a full part in organisational change. Impact assessment is undertaken early and changes are fully funded
4 Predictive Org and Culture Business Process How is meta data management used in your organisation? Meta data is complete, rich, managed and measured. No ambiguity means high re-use and accelerated development of new services
4 Predictive Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We have a framework to analyse and integrate data requirements as they emerge
4 Predictive Org and Culture Business Process What consideration is given to data management processes when delivering organisation change? We have a plan in place for change and an understanding of when change will happen
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process How is organisation risk appetite applied to security/quality etc datasets? Risk and quality are actively managed for all datasets. Breaches and metrics are flagged and responded to by senior management
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process How secure is your data? How is that security maintained and audited? We ensure all data is security marked in line with our published framework. We run regular sweeps and tests to ensure auditing to the highest external levels
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process How reliant is your organisation on systemised tools or well understood processes when resolving data quality issues? We have tools to profile, visualise and resolve issues around data quality that are embedded and well understood
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process How are the data management processes integrated with the wider business processes? Data processes are clearly documented and rigorously maintained, performance monitoring is in place as a business as usual activity
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process How is data/outputs of data valued in the organisation? We like to think we have a "God like over-view of anything"
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process Are there multiple copies of the datasets with little or no reconciliation? Our data is created, integrated, consumed and purged with traceability to the master data model, and supported by rigorous business process
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process Is data collected for which there is no obvious purpose? We regularly review our data collection activities in line with our operational and strategic needs. Data collection is driven directly from our models
4 Predictive Practices and Technique Business Process Do you have repeatable/documented processes to undertake your most frequent data operations? Our processes are fully integrated with our organisation's operating model and the majority of our data operations are automated
4 Predictive Technology Business Process Is the quality of data regularly problematic in terms of frequent data operations? We ensure our data is rigorously maintained to the published levels of quality using automated tools and rigorous business process
4 Predictive Deliverables Technology What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? We have made an investment in predictive analytics and technology which is used to support our most important activities
4 Predictive Deliverables Technology What is your organisations approach/capability around analytics? We can provide live data feeds and customised dashboards
4 Predictive Technology Technology How do technology solutions support your data lifecycle in some/all of the elements (e.g. acquire, clean, use, archive, purge)? We manage data across its full lifecycle by analysing, improving and controlling information assets
4 Predictive Technology Technology If technology solutions are in place for data management, how widely are they used across the whole organisation? Any technology we deploy is used across the organisation as part of existing or new capabilities