It seems that in this current media climate, everyone is clamouring over one thing; Data. The value of having consumer data has increased, because of the ability to be able to potentially use said data for monetisation purposes. Having the ability to directly contact users is proving to be too valuable to ignore, and we can understand why. With that being said, organisations are devising strategies on to how they can get their hands on as much data as possible, but once organisations acquire this data, why’s it important to centralise this data?
Our recent blog on customer identity systems identifies what happens when organisations begin to monetise their data, you can read this here, however this blog looks at the importance of centralising this data.
What is a Centralised database?
A centralised database is essentially a database that’s stored in one location. What this means is that organisations will store every single piece of data acquired in one location as opposed to separate locations for separate items. Now briefly reading this, you may be struggling to see the importance of centralising your data, so let’s point out the advantages of having a centralised database.
Advantages
Arguably, the most important advantage is the increase of data integrity. Data integrity is defined as “The maintenance and the assurance of the accuracy and consistency of data.” Due to the fact that there will be a single view of the data, it makes it significantly easier maintaining that this data is accurate and consistent, as you’d only need to update one mainframe, as opposed multiple if you didn’t have a single view. From a business strategy perspective, what’s the point in pouring efforts into monetisation efforts, if you’re trying to reach your consumers through old contact details?
A second large advantage is the added security that comes with storing your data in one place. Essentially, this minimises the potential avenue of data breaches.at Evolok, we have a single view of all our consumer data, stored on a cloud platform. This significantly increases the security levels, as it’s trying to find a needle in a haystack. For organisations that store emails in one consumer identity system, social profiles in another, for example then it makes it easier for foul play to occur, as there is more than one CIM to attempt to breach.
Finally, one more thing to take into consideration is the amount of money that will be saved if data is centralised. It’s a much more cost-effective method of operation, as the data is in one single place. Labour, power supply, and maintenance costs are all reduced, and that money could essentially be reinvested on other projects. It’s also significantly easier for the end-user to get on with centralised databases, due to the sheer simplicity of just managing one database.
If what you’ve read today has peaked your interest, don’t hesitate to contact Evolok for a demo.