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Harmonized Data Management: A New Label for an Old Necessity?
“Harmonized data management” is a buzzword being promoted to describe a strategy organizations to streamline their data processes, ensure regulatory compliance, and enhance data security. The concept itself is not new. It involves integrating and standardizing data from various sources to create a unified, consistent dataset that can be easily accessed and analyzed across the organization.
The “Harmonized data” concept has been popularized by SAP for consolidating data management sources. For example, the spin-off from the ABB Group, Accelleron, needed a consolidated data management process to comply with local tax, statutory, and legal requirements. By implementing SAP’s Business Technology Platform, Accelleron was able to merge AI, data analytics, automation, and application development into a single environment. This integration provided unified visibility and streamlined operations, reducing the number of applications and trimming expenses. The flip side to this though is that the businesses following this same path need to be willing to fully buy into the SAP platform.
The benefits of a “harmonized data” approach are that it enhances data quality and reliability, which are essential for making informed business decisions. As noted by Progress, “Data harmonization helps companies refine and unify diverse datasets, paving the way for clearer insights, machine learning, data quality, and smarter, data-driven decision making”. This process is particularly beneficial for organizations dealing with large volumes of both structured and unstructured data, as it eliminates redundancies and ensures consistency across all data sources.
But again on the flip side, some of the downsides of this approach are that organizations must navigate the complexities of integrating data from disparate systems, each with its own formats and standards. Additionally, maintaining data quality and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements can be resource-intensive.
In the future, “harmonized data management” or equivalent non-SAP-aligned approaches lie in the integration of advanced technologies like cloud computing and AI-driven data quality tools. These advancements will enable organizations to process and analyze data more efficiently, providing real-time insights and fostering innovation.