More than ever, organizations are now noticing the valuable insights and opportunities present within both structured and unstructured data. However, obtaining access to data is another story. This explains why data acquisition remains a thorn in the flesh of many organizations worldwide.

That’s not to mean you should skimp on it since there is value to be gained from data. All you need is the right approach to determine where it lives and understand how to access it. To lend a helping hand, below are some of the common data acquisition tips for success.

The very moment you choose to request data for your organization, there will inevitably be a string of client questions, comments and objections. Regardless, there are very few accounting systems in existence that can’t offer the necessary information in the needed format. That’s why you should always make the data request before starting your fieldwork.

You should also be specific regarding exactly what you need. Canned reports tend to lack complete data, such as, time, owner, and data. It is for this reason that you should take it upon yourself to include all the fields needs to get a complete set of data.

If your organization lies within the lower-to-mid-range size in revenues, there is a good chance that your IT department is mostly focused on day-to-day services such as virus protection, desktop support, troubleshooting, etc. Actually, they might lack enough time to focus on enhancing their software platforms through data integration or reporting.

However, this risk posing a great challenge for your organization considering knowledgeable resources are unavailable when requesting raw system data in the proper format for analysis. Even well-established organizations sometimes lack skilled personnel to assist with.

To prevent this from happening, be sure to start by educating IT on what you’re doing and why you need the data in the first place. You need to identify what data you need and make requests as soon as possible. It also pays off to work with company management to identify skilled IT resources capable of providing you data acquisition services.

Going with the essence of data acquisition in driving business success, it is easy to see why you can never risk skimping on. Hopefully, the above tips can help ensure you handle yourdata acquisitionexpedition without feeling the heat.