Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the full data lifecycle needs of an enterprise. This definition is fairly broad and encompasses a number of professions which may not have direct technical contact with lower-level aspects of data management, such as relational database management.

Alternatively, the definition provided in the DAMA Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA-DMBOK) is: "Data management is the development, execution and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that control, protect, deliver and enhance the value of data and information assets."

The concept of "Data Management" arose in the 1980s as technology moved from sequential processing (first cards, then tape) to random access processing. Since it was now technically possible to store a single fact in a single place and access that using random access disk, those suggesting that "Data Management" was more important than "Process Management" used arguments such as "a customer's home address is stored in 75 (or some other large number) places in our computer systems." During this period, random access processing was not competitively fast, so those suggesting "Process Management" was more important than "Data Management" used batch processing time as their primary argument. As applications moved more and more into real-time, interactive applications, it became obvious to most practitioners that both management processes were important. If the data was not well defined, the data would be mis-used in applications. If the process wasn't well defined, it was impossible to meet user needs.

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Corporate Data Quality Management

Corporate Data Quality Management (CDQM) is, according to the European Foundation for Quality Management and the Competence Center Corporate Data Quality (CC CDQ, University of St. Gallen), the whole set of activities intended to improve corporate data quality (both reactive and preventive). Main premise of CDQM is the business relevance of high-quality corporate data. CDQM comprises with following activity areas:

• Strategy for Corporate Data Quality: As CDQM is affected by various business drivers and requires involvement of multiple divisions in an organization; it must be considered a company-wide endeavor.
• Corporate Data Quality Controlling: Effective CDQM requires compliance with standards, policies, and procedures. Compliance is monitored according to previously defined metrics and performance indicators and reported to stakeholders.
• Corporate Data Quality Organization: CDQM requires clear roles and responsibilities for the use of corporate data. The CDQM organization defines tasks and privileges for decision making for CDQM.
• Corporate Data Quality Processes and Methods: In order to handle corporate data properly and in a standardized way across the entire organization and to ensure corporate data quality, standard procedures and guidelines must be embedded in company’s daily processes.
• Data Architecture for Corporate Data Quality: The data architecture consists of the data object model - which comprises the unambiguous definition and the conceptual model of corporate data - and the data storage and distribution architecture.
• Applications for Corporate Data Quality: Software applications support the activities of Corporate Data Quality Management. Their use must be planned, monitored, managed and continuously improved.

Topics in Data Management

Topics in Data Management, grouped by the DAMA DMBOK Framework, include: