Proper data management is crucial in business for a myriad of reasons. While efficiency, productivity and smarter insights into customer behavior are some strong examples of the benefits companies can receive by implementing a big data strategy, regulatory compliance is just as crucial, even if it's often overlooked.
Regardless of the industry, regulations are constantly changing and new mandates are always being developed. Compliance requires a company-wide effort, which can be attained through staff training and education of new regulatory measures, but these initiatives can also be assisted by managing business data.
Consider the financial industry. Regulations such as Dodd-Frank require organizations to improve transparency, which means information has to be organized. Businesses must discover a way to share an appropriate amount of information without subjecting themselves to security risks. There is a fine line between the two, and staying on the right side requires information to be organized.
An article in Computer Weekly recently discussed the role of data management in a company's compliance efforts. Clive Longbottom, the article's author, suggested that businesses with the most control over their information will be more successful complying with new regulations.
"Ensuring data flows are efficient and transparent will keep an organization's costs under control while ensuring they can show compliance to data rules and laws that apply to them," Longbottom wrote.
The primary rule to follow is that organized information will ultimately result in a better-run company. If data is either missing, fragmented or duplicated, not only will businesses struggle to maintain efficient operations, they will have difficulty complying with regulations, particularly those related to transparency. It may have nothing to do with a company's motives either. Even the most noble organization would have a hard time proving it if its information were all over the place.
Therefore, finding a way to control data is crucial. Creating a custom database software system will give businesses an opportunity to correctly capture, process, report on and store pertinent information, alleviating the risks related to disorganization. FileMaker development is an ideal solution for a number of reasons.
First, it allows companies to build the best possible solution for data management. Second, FileMaker's functionality makes it easier to scale and customize database systems, which ultimately will allow businesses to make necessary changes to their solutions should new regulations come into play.