A bearonbusiness reader by the name of Marcio posted a great comment to yesterday’s The Power of Accurate Data. He wrote:
I think you nailed the major requirements for data accuracy…but I want to expand a bit on your last point: extreme ease of access to the data.
The ease of access is absolutely necessary, but it may not be sufficient. What I really believes makes a difference is having as many eyes as possible on the detailed data. Obviously, w/o ease of use this isn’t possible.
Marcio, I am glad you pointed this out for two reasons. One, I agree with you. Two, it is 6:48pm and I needed a post for tomorrow.
At Zayo, we have a whole lot of eyes on the data. We do this because of how it is used both in the detailed work flow of the business and in the operational finance reporting of governance. The same data flows seamlessly through these steps. The data flows from one work process (e.g., sales), to a downstream process (e.g., billing). The data also flows from those using it to get their work done to those who are sharing results with upper management and the board.
Hence, eyeballs are constantly on the data. It is easy to drill down. It is easy to summarize into macro-trend lines. Data problems are uncovered quickly. Fortunately, the Salesforce.com tool also enables on the spot corrections.
Hey, there is another Salesforce.com plug. When will Salesforce start comp’ing Zayo for all this great P.R.?
So Marcio, I agree with you. Lots of Eyes are crucial to accurate data.
With it, managers can tailor weekly and/or monthly reporting programs that “facilitate” (if not force) the account execs to look at the data regularly. We’ve found this to be necessary in our usage-based business (admittedly more complex than the MRR-based part of the business) where the high-level trends sometimes mask underlying issues. Thus getting more eyes on the data is way to “de-average” w/o having to create reams of detailed reports that no one can possibly digest as well as foster greater ownership for the acct execs.
Generally a win-win as you get both improved data accuracy and acct execs that become more empowered (by the ease of access to the data) to own and manage the business the company gets from their customers.





