Better data management through best practices

Better data management through best practices

By Denise Dubie

The good news about adopting best practices is that corporations aren’t limited to one method. The bad news is that companies will most likely need to adopt more than one best-practice framework – or at least parts of many – if they want a complete, effective set of management-process guidelines.

A related concern is that when network managers realize that multiple standards may be required to achieve their goals, they may become overwhelmed trying to discern the differences among popular frameworks.

Best-practice frameworks, such as IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT), have been around for years. For the most part, these frameworks should bring consistency and efficiency to the various aspects of IT, such as application development, help desk, network operations, security, and service delivery and support. Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and numerous other regulatory standards is another obvious benefit – and is often the impetus for IT executives to start looking at process frameworks.

Other – and perhaps longer-term – gains are the cost cuts and labor reductions that result when an IT shop deploys processes to which all staff members adhere. Best-practice nirvana occurs when IT is able to align with business by helping network managers translate their services into business terms and assign a business-relevant priority to their tasks.

For more on better management through best practices, please go to: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/011606-specialfocus.html?rl