Information Quality Conference 2004
Miami, FL   October 11-15, 2004

                                              Tutorial Schedule

Monday, October 11: One Day Tutorial 8:30-4:30

Information Quality Principles and Processes 101: Foundation for IQ Management
Andres Perez, IRM Consulting and Associate of Information Impact International

Drive Business Benefit Growth? Improve ROI? Focus on Improvement!
Dave Evans and Dave Mills, BT

• What is information quality and why it is essential to business survival · Information customers and information producers
• The information supply chain
• Metrics for information quality
• Processes for assessing business information quality
• Measuring the costs of poor information quality

• Applying quality management principles to the information products
• Quick wins and systemic improvements for information quality improvement and business effectiveness
• Process for information quality improvement

• Information quality maturity assessment
• How to start an information quality initiative
• Creating and sustaining change for business effectiveness through quality information

Without the proper context for the use of data quality tools as part of an overall information quality program, there may be diminishing returns on the tool investment. Information quality revolves around "fitness for use" for all information uses, and as more information is used for multiple purposes, the perception of fitness depends on the information consumer and the corresponding application context. In essence, fitness for use depends on compliance with the expectations of the knowledge worker, and being able to measure compliance with those expectations can provide an objective assessment of quality.

Most data quality expectations can be expressed as formal business rules. In this tutorial Mr. Loshin presents a framework for defining business rules for information compliance, as well as techniques for using these rules as a component of an information quality and knowledge management program.

• The process of expressing data quality expectations
• A syntactic framework for formally defining data quality rules
• Managing reference information and business rules as metadata
• A technique for transforming data quality rules into operational code

Attendees receive a set of code templates in SQL and Java that can be used as the basis for business rule transformation.

The continuous appeal of data warehousing (DW) and business intelligence (BI) initiatives is that companies use DW and BI technologies to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of their business processes as well as their company's overall performance, a process known as business performance management (BPM). Based on some key performance indicators (KPI) displayed on scorecards or on visual dashboards, company executives make strategic business decisions, such as how to streamline their business processes, what processes to outsource (e.g. customer support center in India), where to open or close branch offices, or what resources to lay off. But what if these KPIs are wrong?

Quality does not happen by accident; it has to be consciously applied at each step of a project development life cycle to both the products in development (deliverables) as well as the development processes. This has never been more important on IT projects than it is on development projects of complex data warehousing decision-support ecosystems, because the decisions that are made based on BI deliverables from these environments have powerful consequences to companies and to their staff. This presentation will cover:

• Why traditional waterfall methodologies don't work on BI and DW projects and how spiral data warehouse methodologies differ
• How to use the software release concept to balance time, scope, and quality
• How to involve business people to actively participate on BI and DW projects and what project activities to assign to them
• How quality-specific activities in each development step can improve the BI

With all of the new ideas you've gained at the IQ Conference, you may be overwhelmed as to where to start when you get back. This workshop session is designed to help identify your next steps, with a plan to successfully implement those next steps and ensure success. This workshop helps you increase the effectiveness of the next steps of your information quality initiative, whether that is implementing quality in a data warehouse, in CRM, creating an IQ organization, or measuring information quality.

You learn the critical ingredients of culture change required to facilitate paradigm-shift organizational and culture changes.

In this workshop session you will work in teams to identify strategies and tactics to increase the effectiveness of your information quality initiative. Learn how to increase the awareness of your potential sponsors, educate them and increase their active involvement in your information quality initiative.

• List and define the next steps your organization needs to implement your information quality initiative
• Describe the essential ingredients of successful change facilitation
• Identify the critical success factors required for effective implementation· Identify implementation-threatening barriers and obstacles
• Identify tactics and techniques to overcome those barriers and obstacles for success

Organizations are realizing that they must leverage their information asset to achieve higher operational effectiveness as well as strategic positioning within their markets, and to achieve this they must effectively manage information across the extended enterprise. Information Management demands the accountability and participation of business and information technology personnel alike. Furthermore, this participation must transcend the boundaries of applications, project scopes, and departments. However, most organizations are unclear on how best to approach this challenge. Frequently, they are focused on applications, projects and departments and find it very difficult to make this transition. New approaches, methods, tools and techniques are required to accomplish this transition.

This tutorial presents the Data Certification approach and associated tools and techniques for managing information across the enterprise. It describes what Data Certification is and how it helps your organization increase information quality. You will learn how to implement effective information policies, collaboration techniques, standards and guidelines. Also, it provides lessons learned to help you understand how you can implement Data Certification for information quality.

• What is the value proposition of Data Certification
• What are the components of Data Certification
• The role of Information Stewardship in Data Certification
• How to implement Data Certification
• Pitfalls and how to avoid them

Leading an organization in the information quality revolution brings special challenges, even for experienced managers. But one can learn a lot from the experiences in the quality movement, as well as from others already well along in their IQ journey. In this interactive session Ken explores alternatives and proven answers to the following six key recurring management issues in the context of Information Quality, in a concise ready-to-apply format:

1. Expectation Management: How do we define, measure, and communicate what we plan and accomplish at the IQ organization level?
2. Organization Design: What structural approach with what processes and functions can work best for us in our current situation, and how should that evolve over time?
3. Staffing: What are the qualities and skills needed for the IQ leadership organization, for project teams and for support resources?
4. Project Selection: How can we identify and cost justify the "best" IQ improvement opportunities, with the highest chances for success?
5. Project Management Framework: What are the best parameters and controls to plan and manage IQ projects?
6. Making the Culture Change Happen: What are the most effective techniques for making the culture change really happen?

Six Sigma is a dynamic approach for dramatically improving product and process quality. The presentation will explain Six Sigma and describe how to use the Six Sigma methodology for an enterprise data quality program. It will include key concepts, methods, roles, tools, terms, tactics, strategies, tips, lessons learned and examples of data quality improvements utilizing Six Sigma.

• Six Sigma Overview
• Data Quality Problems
• Six Sigma Applied to the Data Quality Program
• Cost of Poor Data Quality

BT has achieved increasing ROI over the last three years by driving real business benefit through improving information quality in key business areas. It has developed a world leading information management capability for internal and external clients. But how did BT estimate how much poor information quality was costing it or would cost it if no action was taken? How did it subsequently measure how much money was saved, so proving the ROI? How did it determine the areas in which to invest? What risks did it take? How did it organize itself to deliver? The session offers practical advice to IQ practitioners by focusing on:

• How to measure the cost of poor quality information
• Where ROI has been achieved and key measures used to justify it
• Identifying IQ hotspots that will generate the most ROI
• Automating the analysis and the solutions-get it right, keep it right, do it cheap
• What we learned along the way

Perhaps no management mantra is repeated more often than "You can't manage what you don't measure." The mantra is no less true for data quality. But many find measurement of data quality a wrenching task. It is so tedious, so expensive, so technical, so hard to get management to understand. And on and on. Further, the notion of control only exacerbates these concerns. It doesn't have to be this way, as this Tutorial explains. We'll cover the following: ·

• A simple framework for understanding the dizzying array of measurement options and selecting appropriate ones for your organization
• "How-to" view measurement as a process
• "How-to" get your hands dirty with some simple measurements and evolve to more sophisticated ones
• "How-to" present results in simple, powerful ways to provoke management action
• What you really need to know about statistical control (but were afraid to ask)

Need more management support for your Information Quality initiatives? Interested in quickly and successfully communicating complex ideas? Need to inspire people to change? Storytelling can help you address these issues and more. Attend this workshop and learn how to:

• Find the best stories to use with a specific audience to communicate a specific business need
• Structure stories so that they are truly compelling and memorable
• Select the best time to tell stories to increase your effectiveness.

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