Before doing an IT implementation or, even better, before going out for proposals, the Data Governance and Support Office would like to suggest the following questions to consider. Think of these as the “data requirements” to complement the “functional requirements” and “technical requirements” that are usually gathered as part of a project. It will be very helpful to be able to assess whether an application will meet your data needs aside from the business requirements.
Questions? Suggestions? Let us know.
| Title | Question | Category | |
| 1 | Data capture | Does a central repository exist for this type of data? Or are the data captured in spreadsheets or shadow systems? | Data collection |
| 2 | Data entry | How do data need to be entered/updated? Bulk upload? Integration? User entry? | Data collection |
| 3 | Duplicate values | Is there a potential for duplicate data entries? How do you reconcile duplicates? | Data integrity |
| 4 | Data Cleanup | Does the data have to be evaluated or cleansed for accuracy? How does that need to be done? | Data integrity |
| 5 | Data validation | Is there a data validation process? Will a data validation process be necessary? | Data Integrity |
| 6 | Data Retention | Does data ever get archived or removed from the system? How long must you keep the data? | Data Integrity |
| 7 | Unique IDs | What unique identifiers exist for these data? How is this unique identifier generated? (Is it a sequential reference ID or combination of data attributes? Is there a naming convention or logic associated?) | Data Integrity |
| 8 | Unique ID reuse | Are unique identifiers ever reused? Why? | Data Integrity |
| 9 | Error handling | Do you have/will you require a process for handling data errors? If so, describe the process? | Data Integrity |
| 10 | Updating the data | Do you have / will you require a data update control process? | Data integrity |
| 11 | Data migration | If adopting a new system, what data will migrate into the new system?
|
Data Migration |
| 12 | Data permissions | Do you have / will you require a data sharing control process? What workflow is necessary to support that process? | Access Management |
| 13 | Data Structure | How does the data need to be structured and presented for analysis (longitudinal, cross sectional, fiscal snapshot)? | Analytics |
| 14 | Frequency/ Timing | How readily available does the data need to be to meet the needs of the business (e.g. real-time, end of period, once a year)? | Analytics |
| 15 | Basis of observation | What is the basis of observation (person, object, task)? What is the focal point of the data? | Data structure |
| 16 | Missing Values | How do you treat missing values? | Data structure |
| 17 | Metadata requirements | What information about the data do you have or want? Descriptive (such as keywords, helps people find things), structural (such as relationships, helps people understand how things are organized) or administrative (such as update dates, helps people understand how things are processed)? | Data structure |
| 18 | Data harmonization | Is there data manipulation required to make the data compatible across systems? Where can/should that be done? | System Requirements |
| 19 | System Restrictions | Are there any system restriction for downstream systems that we will have to accommodate? | System Requirements |
| 20 | Definitions | Do you have documented definitions? | Data quality |
| 21 | Quality dimensions | What components of data quality are most important to you?
|
Data Quality |
| 22 | Provenance | Are these data the authoritative source for the information? For all elements or a subset? If not, what is the authoritative source? | Data Quality |
| 23 | Data Familiarity | What is the level of data familiarity of our end users? Do they use spreadsheets? Are they comfortable with having access to the database and creating queries? Do they have experience with ad hoc reporting and selecting criteria to create custom reports? Does the user just want to push a button that extracts the data in the necessary format? | Use |