Eleven questions every transformation leader should ask about data

When these questions have clear answers, delivery is possible. When they don't, the programme is already in trouble.

Data is where most ERP and transformation programmes lose time and money, and it is usually found late. These are the questions I ask in the first weeks of any programme. None of them is technical. All of them need a named owner.

1. What data is required to meet the transformation goal?
2. Who owns that data, and who is accountable for its day-to-day stewardship?
3. What should be migrated, and what should be archived or retired?
4. Where is each kind of data mastered?
5. How are data quality rules defined, governed and enforced, and where do they live?
6. How are systems integrated, and does that integration enforce your data masters and quality rules, or quietly undermine them?
7. How is data lineage captured, so you can trace any element from source to target and prove it to auditors?
8. How is data secured, and how are privacy and regulatory obligations maintained throughout?
9. Where does financial reporting come from, and how is it certified to meet regulatory requirements?
10. Where does operational and management reporting come from?
11. How does data move from current state to future state without creating duplication or reconciliation debt?

What to do with the answers

If you cannot answer questions two and three today, start there. Named business owners and an explicit decision on what will not be migrated remove more risk from a data programme than any tool. Questions nine and eleven are the ones auditors and finance will ask about after go-live, so answer them before it.

Which of these gets overlooked most in your experience?

Scott Armstrong is a programme director who recovers and delivers ERP, finance, data and CRM transformation for large organisations. Talk to Scott about your programme.