This data will kill you
The good news is that most of the system’s data is not dangerous, and the better news is that if you manage the system well you can be vaccinated against the most important problems.
The dirty little secret of IT is that data is never free, even if you are able to obtain it for free. IOW, all data will cost you. Problem is, you rarely know how much. Data almost always comes with externalities, initially invisible costs that become important over the long run. The clearest example of this is email, where any number of defendants can tell you “more is not always better.”
Whenever you’re evaluating a new data source, quantify the 3 or 5 year TCO of the data. For example, in a CRM system a Lead might cost $1 or $100 or more per record to obtain. Cleansing, deduping, and updating that Lead might cost you another $5 a month, but if you don’t do that work the Lead’s value goes to less than $0. Why Because users don’t know the data is rubbish, they depend on it’s being correct, and they end up wasting time. The externality here System credibility gets diminished as users no longer trust any of the data and executives think the reports are garbage.
[Related: What price CRM data quality]
Nobody can afford to be perfectionistic with data quality. But you ignore data quality at your professional peril.
It never ceases to amaze me how few CRM systems have adequate backup, audit trail, archiving, and expunging processes. To be adequate means “good enough to support you in a legal or regulatory enforcement action.” Even if your business is lucky enough to be in an unregulated industry, law suits can come from a lot of different angles…and when they do come, the things you need to be able to prove are typically years in the past.
Think your backups are just fine Check out this video about what actually happened to Pixar.
When developing a spec for a project or an Agile Sprint, the reflex is to focus on features and functionality. The problem comes when you ignore the invisible F—the foundation, which can be rotten.
[Related: CRM backups or audit trails Yes, please]
Data issues are often the long pole in the tent, the ultimate constraint that makes budgets and schedules unachievable. So make sure to shine a light on that pole before you even start work on the project.