Effective data management has become non-negotiable in today’s digital business environment. While many organizations rely on digital tools like SharePoint, Salesforce, and cloud drives, poor data governance can hinder decision-making, increase risk, and damage productivity. This blog offers practical, scalable strategies that IT leaders can implement without overhauling systems overnight.
Data is Still the Lifeblood of an Organization
From project reports to client communications and forecasts, data underpins every aspect of how a modern organization functions. Most of this information now lives in digital ecosystems or stored in collaborative platforms like SharePoint, Teams, Salesforce, yet it’s often fragmented, duplicated, outdated, and difficult to access.
Poor data management takes a toll on organizational efficiency, increases enterprise risk, and ultimately defeats the purpose of collecting and storing the information in the first place.
And with many organizations now piloting or scaling AI-powered tools, poor data hygiene becomes even more damaging. If foundational data is inconsistent or incomplete, the outputs of any intelligent system, whether predictive models or internal search, become unreliable.
What are 5 Best Practices for Better Data Management?
Keeping your organization’s data clean, secure, and accessible should be a top priority for IT leaders, even if the payoff is not immediate. Here are 5 best practices to help you improve your data management without starting from scratch:
1. How Can You Identify What’s Not Working?
Review your current data assets to look for where staff time is being wasted or where data issues have caused errors or inefficiencies. Ask:
- Are we entering data more than once?
- Are teams relying on outdated versions of key documents?
- Are people using workarounds due to tool limitations?
Modern tools (especially those incorporating AI) can help flag duplicates or inconsistencies. But these features only deliver results if your underlying systems are well-configured and integrated. Choosing vendors that support these capabilities with strong implementation support and user enablement is key.
2. Is information Flowing Across the Organization or Getting Stuck?
Critical knowledge shouldn’t live solely in someone’s head or a folder last touched in 2022. When information isn't routinely captured and shared, teams lose alignment and momentum. On the flip side, if there is unnecessary, repetitive, or out-of-date documentation useful information gets lost in the noise. To strike the right balance:
- Archive or sunset outdated content regularly
- Summarize decisions and make them easily searchable
- Promote version control across platforms
3. Are You Using the Right Tools in the Right Way?
IT systems alone won’t solve your data problems, user habits matter just as much. SharePoint, common drives, and email attachments can quickly become a mess. Common missteps:
- Emailing attachments instead of cloud repositories
- Inconsistent naming/folder styles within repositories
- Lack of user training on platform capabilities
Management MUST lead by example when using repositories and plan for “future growth”. Even widely used platforms — from cloud drives to relational databases — may not scale well without the right governance. Guidelines to strengthen usage:
- Standardize naming conventions and folder hierarchies
- Train teams on platform use — not just at launch, but regularly
- Ensure vendors provide strong customer support, onboarding, and roadmap visibility
Consider not just the tool itself, but the vendor relationship. Does your current provider offer scalable pricing, data portability, and roadmap alignment? A feature-rich platform won’t deliver results if your teams don’t have the support to use it well.
4. How Do You Implement a “Big Bang” Change?
Be incremental, not ambitious. Large-scale migrations sound strategic, but they often stall due to overpromising and underdelivering. IT history is full of major projects that failed because too much was promised/attempted, try this bite-sized steps instead of a massive one-step change:
- Leave legacy or archived data untouched while introducing new standards moving forward
- Pilot new practices in one team or function before scaling
- Set incremental milestones with visible wins
Some teams are experimenting with AI-based content migration tools, but even these need defined parameters and close human oversight to succeed. The goal isn’t just automation, it’s better structure and governance.
5. Are you Planning for growth…and for Security?
IT decisions are often made for today’s needs, not tomorrow’s scale or complexity. Will your system still serve the organization when headcount doubles or compliance requirements shift?
Modern data management requires:
- Scalable platforms that integrate with evolving tools
- A documented cybersecurity framework that includes access control, encryption, and recovery protocols
- Vendors that offer strong support, a clear roadmap, and reliability — not just the lowest price
If you're considering AI-enabled platforms, ensure your vendors have a strong stance on data privacy, model transparency, and user permissions. It’s not just about features, it’s about trust.
Why Does Better Data Management Lead to a Stronger Business?
Data is more than an IT issue, it's a business enablement tool. When your data is well-managed, your people are more aligned, your decisions are faster, and your organization runs smoother.
Small steps toward better data management can yield significant returns in efficiency, transparency, and user satisfaction, and that’s exactly the kind of value leadership expects from IT today.
Ready to improve how your organization manages and secures its data?
Sometimes the biggest impact that IT professionals can have relates not to technology but to process. For organizations of all sizes, there are simple ways to improve how data and information is managed and shared.
Stratford can help you assess your current data ecosystem, identify opportunities, and implement scalable, secure systems that support long-term business performance.
Contact us to schedule a strategic IT consultation or dive deeper into our IT services:
A version of this blog post was previously available. It has been updated with new content and re-released.