6 Cost-Effective Tips For Managing Your Business Data

Finnegan Pierson

Improving business data management is a goal for many organizations. However, unless you have a huge budget, it can seem like an overwhelming task. The following are some suggestions that can be implemented with relatively little cost, and some may even save you money. By using these suggestions, you can greatly improve your data management.

1) Visualize Your Data

One of the keys to better managing your data is understanding what you have. This can be challenging, especially if you are collecting data from several sources. Visualizing your data with the right tool can help you to better understand it and use it for your benefit. Consider starting by simply mapping out your data sources and the data points you are collecting from them. Using that, build a visual report that can provide you with useful insights. There are lots of data visualization solutions, many of them can be acquired for minimal cost.

2) Implement Cost Management Processes

You need to store your data somewhere. If yours is like a lot of small businesses, it likely has data on the cloud. While the public cloud can be a very powerful tool, especially for businesses that may not be able to afford significant infrastructure otherwise. However, it can also be expensive if your usage is poorly managed. With the right cloud cost management solution, you can cut down your cloud data storage expenses. This is a great way to get more for your money from your business data solutions.

3) Build a Scalable Model

One of the most common reasons for excess costs in data management is unused resources. If you don’t have a system that scales well with your needs, you will constantly be finding yourself with too much or too little from your data storage and management. The solution is to build a more scalable model. It can be worth it to invest in a better data architecture early on. While this may seem like a big expense at first, it can save you a lot of money and trouble in the future. Being able to scale up and down quickly can give your business a competitive edge.

4) Set Up Local Data Backups

Backing up your data is an essential part of managing it well. However, data backup services can get expensive, especially if you have a big dataset. While you may want to invest in fancier solutions for your mission-critical data, you can potentially back a lot of it up with relatively simple and cost-effective local options such as network-attached storage. The cost of not backing up your data will likely be much higher than backing it up in the long run. Hardware failure or a ransomware attack could be catastrophic without a backup.

5) Develop Powerful Reports

Your business data is nothing more than an expense if you aren’t using it well. So, you will want to make sure you have strong metrics and key performance indicators leveraging your dataset. Building out a set of useful reports is a highly important step in data management.

A lot of reports can be built with spreadsheet software such as Excel (and open-source alternatives). However, it may be worth investing in a specialized tool as well.

6) Make Security a Priority

Finally, make sure you are placing a premium on your data security. Again, like backups, good security can save you a lot of money in the long run. The legal and financial fallout of a cyberattack can potentially be crippling. Plus, there are a lot of cybersecurity tactics you can implement for relatively little money. Consider hiring a consultant to help you get started. The right specialist can point you on the path to cost-effective but secure data management.

Learn More

Discover more about managing and using your business data today. With the above tips, you will be able to get more bang for your buck while also keeping your business safe.