Periodically evaluating the health of the data on your enterprise network is extremely important. I mean, you see your doctor for check-ups to make sure the old ticker and every other crucial part is working perfectly, right? I will just imagine you nodded your head yes to this one, even if you did not.
By performing tests on data on a frequently scheduled basis – whether it be monthly, quarterly, or annually – you ensure that all the moving pieces within your network are in working order. Not only are you making sure that you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to your resources, you also guarantee you are able to catch any practices, errors, or mismanagement that may have slipped through the cracks in day-to-day use.
The timing for addressing these issues and red flags is entirely up to your team and organization. They may be fixed or immediately or used to implement new rules in Data Management and Knowledge Management standards. Your choice.
When using the Integrated Marco Studio suite of applications, it is easy to create a comprehensive snapshot of spatial data on the network. Once you have this information though, where do we go from here?
Do we just stare at it and hope it magically tells us its secrets?
Well, we could. Something tells me though that particular phenomena only really happens after your sixth cup of coffee during a workday though.
Instead, we ask questions of our data.
The questions you ask of the Spatial Data Inventory may be tailored to your project or goals for running solutions like Integrated Marco Commander or Integrated Marco Mystic. You may already have these in mind and know exactly what you are expecting to discern.
For those who need a kick-start or data inspiration, the graphic below highlights sample questions to help you get started. It is also available for download if you want to pass it along to a friend, coworker, potential spatial love interest, etc.
Before closing out this #MarcoMonday, are there any other questions you tend to approach your data checks armed with? Explore a sample of what you should be asking now.
Explore the Series
When it comes to reviewing your Geographic Information System (GIS) data and inventories, there are questions you should have at the ready. Discover common questions we ask of our spatial data to get the most out of these resources - and better yet, how we actually achieve answers. Explore the cheat sheet here and dive in to each post in the series below.
Week 5 - Data Age is Not Just a Number