Lessons from Apple WWDC & Data Management – Part 2: Ubiquity

I paid for it, so I should be able to have access to it when and where I want it.  Moving from one computer to another, or for a mobile device shouldn’t be a barrier.  The interface should be intuitive and content accurate.  There should also be a mechanism to handle exceptions.  Yes, I am talking about iCloud’s music support but I could easily be talking about an organization’s business data and the same principles should apply.

Consumer technologies made IT’s job both easier and harder at the same time.  The computing power that used to cost tens or hundreds of thousands are not available for a fraction of the cost.  Specialized devices are being replaced by mobile apps (have you see Square on iPhone/iPad/Android?  Why need complex credit card machinery when you have accessibility anytime and almost anywhere).  Application designs are becoming more targeted also.  The limited real estate is getting developers and users alike to focus on the most important information.  Push alerts allow users to be notified when there is an update vs. having to run the weekly report for a comparison or waiting on an email.  Enterprise Workflow can now be accessible, practical, and useful at a smart phone near you.

What about information content and quality.  Apple’s new offering state if they know you have rights to certain data, it will be available to you on any of your registered devices.  If you have additional personal data (e.g. ripped CDs) you also have the option, for a modest but transparently stated fee, to make that available in the same platform.  Can your enterprise apps do that or does any data not centrally governed come with a large price tag?

The information age is challenging many paradigms.  I believe one is that of “acceptable data quality”.  In the past, we had more time to check and understand what the quality of the information was.  Now, given the pace of new data creation, we have a lot less time.  So we need to modify our thinking from traditional per-incident assessments to reusable and scalable exception handling processes.

The world is an interesting place.  This can be an adventure and a curse.  Wishing you a productive and fun journey.

Cheers