How to store data most efficiently

Information and data are the lifeblood of practically every company. They let us make informed decisions, improve, and optimize. Theoretically, that translates into more customers and higher revenue.

Information and data are the lifeblood of practically every company. They let us make informed decisions, improve, and optimize. Theoretically, that translates into more customers and higher revenue. It's worth saying, though, that the only data that helps us with that is well-organized, consistent data. In today's article we'll look at a few principles to follow when storing data.

What principles to stick to?

·         Who owns the data? — Define exactly who is responsible for which data. That not only motivates your staff, it also gives you visibility into what's actually happening — and the option to reward those who handle the data well.

·         What to keep? — Storing everything makes no sense; unless you own the cloud service yourself, you simply won't have the room. So decide which data you want and which you don't. Review and prune it regularly.

·         How to store it? — As consistently as possible. So when you can, build templates so the data ends up stored in a uniform shape. It sounds like unnecessary work — until you have to comb through thousands of differently-organized spreadsheets.

·         How to secure it? — As thoroughly as possible if it's sensitive. I know I repeat myself a lot in these articles, but repetition is the mother of wisdom: use unique strong passwords, use multi-factor authentication, and back up — because if you don't have it twice, you don't have it at all.