Energy companies are now awash in data. The challenge is what to do with it. Many utilities try to create a grandiose data management plan and fail. A better approach is to simplify, integrate early, and reuse, according to Gartner Inc.
Managing data can lead a utility down a rabbit hole. Energy companies try to consolidate all of the information they have and then prepare it for analysis. In many cases, they hoard data and are constantly collecting, cleaning, and refining it. Â Consequently, they never really leverage it. One reason is enterprise data is dynamic, not static.
Companies also fall into a trap of assuming that one data design is better than another. Here, they focus on devising the perfect solution rather than the most pragmatic one. As a result, they fritter away time designing and not actually analyzing. How can they change these dynamics?
Simplify Data Collection and Data Cleansing
Integration is a large part of any data management project. one that many utilities put off until later. Energy companies do not need to come up with every possible integration use case. Instead, simplify and begin reuse immediately upon deployment. Focus on applications with similar requirements and automate the integration process as much as possible.
On a similar note, businesses do not need to start their data analysis from scratch with every new application. Instead, see what already works and what doesn’t from other applications and simply tweak them to the new application’s needs.
Data management is taking up a lot of energy company time because the process is complex and inefficient. By setting simpler goals, being practical, and using what already exists, they spend more time analyzing and less time cleansing their data.