Data Governance Matters

At the Independent Analysts Platform, Greg Battas from HP told this story an hour ago:This was back when he was working on the HP HPIT product, and he wanted to know what it would cost to build it. He asked engineering, and his resource there said he’d bet back to him.He didn’t want to wait for an estimate. So he went to HP’s own site, and decided to use a “Click and Buy” self-service approach. He had a list of components, so he just started clicking parts. Laughing, he said he even clicked the button for next day Fedex delivery.

While we were chuckling, he also said that he knew his report would drive someone in marketing crazy — but he wanted the information.

So he called engineering back and said he still wanted a good cost estimate, but it “better not be more than x amount, because he knew where he could get the parts for that amount.”

We all laughed. It was a good story. But it was more than that. Greg was demonstrating several truths that we should all keep in mind:
1. People will do what they need to do to
2. This is true even if they cause problems for someone else. They might feel bad about it, but they’re going to do it anyway if it’s important enough.
3. Putting information out there may lead to unexpected consequences. Sometimes this is good.
4. Smart people think outside of the box.
5. Leaders are impatient. That’s why they’re out front, leading.

For posts detailing capabilities reported by vendors presenting to us, check out Shawn Rogers’ great b-eye blog at http://www.b-eye-network.com/blogs/rogers/