Valentines Data Quality Post

I’ve been inspired by Jim Harris’ excellent post about how companies need to love their data this Valentines Day, where he uses 1980s song lyrics to argue his case.  My personal view is that the 1980s, with a few exceptions, were a lost decade for music. So I trawled through my ipod and found this great song about a CEO’s tortured love for information.

I give you “DATA” by Derek and the Dominoes.

What will you do when you get data

Loaded into your new BI?

You’ve been running reports

that don’t make sense for too long

but you can’t blame your poor BI.

Data, you’ve got me on my knees

Data, I’m begging darlin’ please.

Data, darlin’ won’t you ease my worried mind.

I tried to get some information.

But the data lets me down.

Like a fool, I fell in love with you,

But the duff  data turns my whole world upside down

Data, you’ve got me on my knees

Data, I’m begging darlin’ please.

Data, darlin’ won’t you ease my worried mind.

Let’s make the best of the information.

Before I finally go insane

please don’t say we’ll never find a way

or tell me that all BI’s in vain

Data, you’ve got me on my knees

Data, I’m begging darlin’ please.

Data, darlin’ won’t you ease my worried mind.

Of course, if we look further into the archives we can find references to poor quality information dotted through the master works of the blues greats.

• BB King’s under rated “The referential integrity’s gone”, later rereleased as “The Thrill is gone”
• John Lee Hooker’s “I’d got my data workin’ (but it just don’t work on you)”, a song about a failed data migration later reworked and re-released as “I’ve got my Mojo workin'”.
• Robert Johnson’s lost recording “I’ve got Data on my mind”.
• The Blues Brothers “Everybody needs some data (to love)”.

Even older than that, a 7 year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the timeless classic “Twinkle Twinkle little infomraiton record, how I wonder how complete and consistent you are“. Unfortunately his father made him rewrite it as a childish ditty about the stars. Astronomy’s gain was our loss.

The list is endless, proving that the struggle with quality information to drive business value is as timeless as good music.