Giang Tan 01

IBM opens its own cloud marketplace

2019-06-14T11:35:00.001-04:00

IBM offers applications for big data analysis and security in its own cloud marketplace. In addition, it wants to enable a seamless transition for companies to the cloud and continue to distribute hybrid clouds. In addition, IBM announces 30 new services for the open cloud platform BlueMix.

IBM has started its own cloud marketplace . In particular, the company offers Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Services (SaaS).

These cover everything from big data analysis to security and mobile. At the Impact 2014 Las Vegas conference , IBM announced that Flow Search Corp., MongoDB, NewRelic, Redis Labs, SendGrid, Sonian, Twilio, Ustream, and PHP specialist Zend are partners.

With the marketplace, IBM wants to provide companies with an easy transition to the cloud. In addition, it wants to increase the distribution of hybrid clouds. These become more and more standard as they connect on-premise programs and cloud applications. Gartner expects half of all companies to use a hybrid cloud within three years.

"Business, IT and development cloud users are increasingly looking for easy access to a broad range of services to address new business models and changing market conditions," said Robert LeBlanc, SVP of IBM Software and Cloud Solutions. "IBM's cloud marketplace provides our customers with big data analytics, mobile, social, commerce, integration - the power of IBM-as-a-Service and our ecosystem - to help them reach their customers quickly deliver innovative services. "

At the same time, IBM is driving forward the spread of its own open cloud platform BlueMix. In February , it launched BlueMix after a billion-dollar investment and then opened the middleware stack for the SoftLayer PaaS cloud. The goal of the platform is to give developers a way to build, install, and manage cloud applications quickly. In addition, IBM now offers more than 30 new services for BlueMix. They cover growth areas such as big data and analytics, cloud integration, DevOps and the Internet of Things.

IBM has recently made a number of investments to build a competitive cloud portfolio. Among other things, it invested $ 1.2 billion in new data centers for SoftLayer , another billion in building Blue PaaS, and over $ 7 billion in 17 acquisitions, including Aspera, Cloudant, and Silverpop .

HP revises HP-UX and NonStop series

2019-06-14T11:34:00.003-04:00

HP has updated HP-UX and the NonStop range. Among other things, it has taken over the accelerated boot from Superdome to Bladeserver. Now you can virtualize Unix with the HP CloudSystem Matrix. For smaller companies, the fault-tolerant NonStop servers are now also available in a 19-inch rack.

The software and servers for the Unix operating system HP-UX get an update from Hewlett-Packard . HP-UX 11i v3 is designed to deliver higher performance and advanced features. In addition to the update, HP has also enhanced the Integrity NonStop family of fault-tolerant systems with entry-level models for smaller businesses.

HP continues to believe in the viability of legacy systems such as HP-UX and the NonStop systems and assures this to its own customers as part of Project Odyssey . In practice, it handles technical developments in the area of x86 servers for the systems. Not only does the new version of HP-UX boot faster, it also gets virtualization capabilities via HP CloudSystem Matrix .

"Customers with HP-UX systems shy away from the risk and have frozen their systems," said Ken Surplice, responsible for the HP servers in Europe. "But the least risky path is now to stay with HP-UX and update the hardware." HP-UX only runs on Itanium RISC processors. The servers had last updated HP in 2012 with Intel's Itanium 9500 " Poulson ". According to HP, recent innovations in processors, memory, and networking are doubling the number of virtual machines per processor.

In addition, workload moves can now be performed without interruption. As explained by Surplice, HP has taken advantage of the speed of booting from the superdome servers for the blade systems. At the same time, the CloudSystem Matrix solutions-complete cloud systems in the rack-can now better handle HP-UX workloads. Up to now, HP-UX has only been directly on the hardware, now it can also be used on virtual Unix machines.

HP acquired the NonStop systems indirectly through the acquisition of Tandem by Compaq. Surplice says: "NonStop has undergone the most incredible transformation. It has gone from proprietary hardware and software to a world where everything is based on standards. It's been made available for Intel hardware and blades, and is now available in a 19-inch rackmount server for smaller businesses that do not need an entire shelf full of blades. "

The server manager also says, "We continue to invest in NonStop because its role is crystal clear, especially in the telecoms and finance space." Some large customers have been very receptive to the innovations communicated to them in advance on HP-UX and NonStop. "The offers are closely linked. HP-UX users have the same future as Linux and Windows volume customers. This once again confirms our dual strategy. "

STUDYING IN THE US - YOUR SEMESTER ABROAD IN THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

2019-06-09T08:21:00.000-04:00

Studying in the US offers you many benefits: you benefit from one of the best education systems in the world, perfect your English skills and expand your personal and professional horizons.

LIFE IN THE USA - A GLIMPSE INTO THE MOST COVETED STUDY COUNTRY

America and its people have a lot to offer: the cities and their colorful cultural program and the indescribable diversity of the American landscape. Not only New York and Los Angeles are impressive. Almost all major cities impress with their skyscrapers, historic buildings and the typical American charm.

The US cities are one thing, the dimensions of the American landscape are the other. The overwhelming manifold nature of the USA attracts numerous people every year. Be it the countless national parks, impressive sandy beaches and coasts or the fascinating Grand Canyon.

OUR COLLEGES - BETWEEN DREAM BEACHES AND SKYSCRAPERS

The college landscape in America is overwhelming. Nowhere else are there such first-class and diverse universities. Therefore, it is not surprising that America is the most popular country for a semester abroad. The US colleges and universities of our university program are located in stunning locations in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, California, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington. Click here for our partner colleges .

STUDYING IN AMERICA - CAMPUS LIFE

The American campus is unique - this is where the entire student life takes place. You will find everything you need to study and live here: cafeterias, bookstores, sports facilities, etc., as well as countless secluded places to learn, chat and linger. The campus life in the USA is incomparable! German universities can not compete here. If you love sports, you're in good hands at an American college, because university sports play a particularly important role in campus life. No matter which university you study, the sports offer is huge: Whether tennis or basketball, athletics or cheerleading - there is something for everyone!

OUR COST ADVANTAGES FOR YOUR SEMESTER ABROAD IN THE USA

As you know, studying in the US involves relatively high costs. The tuition alone can be more than $ 30,000 per year. But the offer is enormous: American universities offer high-quality study programs and a very intensive supervision by professors and lecturers. In addition, students receive individual support from student advisers and benefit from small course sizes.

The following services are included in the study abroad program of AIFS

The tuition fees

The flight

The accommodation

and we think the (much lower!) program prices are therefore reasonable! Get an overview and let us advise you individually by our team of experts. If you lack financial support for studying abroad in America, a scholarship could help. Informing is worthwhile!

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN AMERICA - WHAT STUDYING IN THE US MEANS

There are a large number of courses in the USA, which are offered at so-called community colleges or Universities. Colleges are most common in the US. Within four years, students can earn a bachelor's degree, which is assigned to the undergraduate area in the United States. Community colleges offer two-year programs that allow students to earn an associate degree. As an independent degree, however, this is not recognized in Germany.

Transfer Degree Programs can provide access to a bachelor program. After two years of associate studies, students can move to a college or university. Universities offer, in contrast to the American colleges, not only Bachelor's degrees, but also Master's degrees (Graduate area). In the USA, a distinction is made between scientific master programs and vocational master programs. Study years in the USA are generally divided into two semesters. However, some colleges and universities divide their academic year into a trimester system.

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM AT A GLANCE:

At colleges, students can receive a bachelor's degree within four years

At community colleges, associate degrees can be acquired within two years, but not recognized in Germany

Universities also offer master's degrees, unlike colleges

In the USA, a distinction is made between scientific and vocational master's degrees

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU INVEST $ 200,000 FOR AN MBA AT HARVARD

2019-06-07T23:02:00.002-04:00

The article came from the answer of a Quora professor, explaining why the huge fee of nearly $ 200,000 (both tuition and estimated living expenses) of the Harvard MBA program is worth it.

According to the professor who teaches the University of California, Berkeley MBA program , when admitted to a top MBA program like Harvard, you basically "bought" the following three "products":

Firstly, it is the "seal of approval", indicating that you "beat some othertowering GMAT points " and belong to the top 10% of those admitted. Of course, things won't stop at approval letters, but will also require you to graduate from that program, but the fact that most students are approved does this.

Secondly, the most meaningful thing when you go to a 2-year caliber program is that you will get a high level educational experience. There are many people arguing about how to evaluate the value and quality of a training program. But certainly one thing is that the Harvard program will bring you the necessary knowledge of leadership, administration, and decision-making skills at work.

The last thing is equally important, which is the opportunity to connect with an alumni network of important people around the world. Harvard is the school with the largest and most prominent alumni network, with well-known corporations, politicians and billionaires. Attending school will lead you to useful relationships for future employment opportunities. You will find a place for yourself if you have enough talent, knowledge and skills.

Once these relationships are in place, you will be able to get a chance to be recruited into positions of uneven salaries - enough to "offset the $ 200,000 investment of this MBA program." .

In short, studying MBA at prestigious schools like Harvard (at Berkeley,Stanford , UCLA ...) will bring you more than you spend. So consider this a worthwhile investment!

SILICON VALLEY - AN EXPENSIVE DESTINATION FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENTS

2019-06-07T04:41:00.000-04:00

In recent years, the name Silicon Valley (SV) - Silicon Valley - has become an expensive destination for all those passionate about pursuing technology.Of course, young Vietnamese are not out of that trend. Indeed, getting a job here is always the dream of not only international students but also domestic students. So why is Silicon Valley so hot?

The history of Silicon Valley

SV is the world's leading technology innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem located in the San Francisco Bay Area (Bay Area), in the state of California, USA. The name Silicon Valley is not a place name, but a nickname with the word "Valley" originating in Santa Clara Valley where the students were originally formed, and the word "Silicon" refers to a huge number of children.

Electronic silicon chips are created and manufactured here.

Historically, in the 1930-40s, San Francisco was a stronghold and strong attachment to the US Navy, so the area around it became a radio technology research and development center and not troops. A few years later, Stanford Professor Frederick Terman convinced the school to let some technology companies lease facilities, creating an area called Stanford Industrial Park (Stanford Industrial Park).

Center of "creative boom"

Some time later, the fall of many big companies like Kodak and General Electric attracted many passionate technology students in the area to work.This has created an "explosion" of research and discovery. The pioneering corporations like Intel (1960s) were born and laid the foundations for the establishment of Palo Alto Research Center (Palo Alto Research Center), and later the brainchild of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs ...

Today, students are the headquarters of many big bosses such as Facebook, Google, Intel, Apple, eBay ... and thousands of start-up companies in the same industry. For this reason, students are home to many of the most technology engineers in the country (total / area), and there are also many millionaires and billionaires in the United States.

The opportunity to explore Silicon Valley for you

Want to explore Silicon Valley or simply find out more about studying abroad in the United States, nothing more realistic than really walking there and experiencing life, culture, food and people are born. live there. For parents and students who are wondering about which school and industry to choose, Silicon Valley Immersion Trip (SVIT) is a worthwhile option. This is a summer study abroad program founded by Pham Tuyet Ngan - an international student who has been studying, working and living in the US for nearly 10 years. Joining this program will be a great opportunity for you to explore and learn.

Designed for Vietnamese students from 15 to 20 years old who plan to go to college in the US, SVIT is the only program currently focused on guiding you in career orientation and school choice. The second, equally important focus, is connecting you to a network of teachers and friends who will lead you on your career path.

SVIT program is designed as career-oriented trips for undergraduate and MBA students at top US schools. Unlike summer camp programs with up to 100 participants, we limit the number of students per trip to 15 to ensure each participant will receive the greatest attention. Students will have to go through a writing round and an interview round to assess their English skills and determination. The goal is to ensure that those who participate in SVIT will make the most of what the trip offers.

During this trip, you will receive:

Study in the No. 1 technology summer camp in the US with extreme courses & trendy trends

Studying on the campus of Stanford University - (University ranked 3rd in the United States, on par with famous universities like Harvard, Princeton)

Visit and interact with students at famous universities like UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, San Jose State University ...

Visit & interact with leading technology and start-up companies in the world such as Google, Facebook, Uber ... to better understand the movement of modern society, the labor market, and have a look practical about the learning process prepared to be able to work at such leading corporations

Connecting career with Vietnamese people who are studying and working in the US

Participate in a workshop to guide the application of American university and career planning advice

Visit the San Francisco Bay Area (Bay Area)

WHY A CENTRAL DATABASE PROMISES MORE SECURITY

2019-06-06T11:22:00.001-04:00

In an earlier post, I've already written about how important it is to merge business units together to ensure a consistent customer experience. A common database for all areas is a huge advantage for different reasons. This not only helps to optimize workflows and customer experiences, but also guarantees the safe handling of sensitive data.

DSGVO: Shared data sets do not make anyone happy

In May 2018, the time has come: the General Data Protection Regulation , which has actually been in force since 2016, will be punished for non-compliance from 25.5.2018. For many companies, May is therefore the key date in order to adapt all processes and strategies to DSGVO-compliant hitherto.

Above all, customers and users have a special right to know and to control how their data is used. You can therefore:

request at any time to delete their data
correct or edit your data at any time
Request access to all data in a common data format
restrict the use of their data at any time or prohibit it completely

Imagine a company that uses isolated databases for the CRM system, marketing automation, logistics software, and ticket and billing. And now imagine what this business is like when a customer asks for all of their data in a consistent format.

It is almost impossible to gather together all the information in decentralized databases and send them in a format without an immense effort.

Incidentally, Ines Alte explains in an interview what particularly high-tech companies need to know about the GDPR.

A central database gives an overview of all data

Even before the GDPR, but especially now is a central database basis, for example, to ensure customer-centric processes seamlessly. But it also helps to identify and structure collected data in a standardized way. This allows sensitive data to be properly labeled and processed. At the same time, all employees have a better overview of the various data and can thus also comply more easily with data protection laws.

In short: a database supports the control and overview of data on all contacts, work processes or customer groups.

And while privacy is often cited as a barrier to customer-centric and personalized targeting, the reverse is true. Those who process, collect and process their sensitive data in compliance with data protection laws can at the same time guarantee an optimal customer journey. A customer journey that responds to individual needs and not at the expense of customer confidence. Data protection strengthens digitization, just as a secure foundation strengthens the stability of a home.

DSGVO SURVEY: COMMUNICATION VS. COMMUNICATION PROCESSES

2019-06-06T11:21:00.001-04:00

In a recent survey, we asked companies about their status quo in the framework of the General Data Protection Regulation. The result shows that communication with customers runs better than the relevant processes in the background.

Overall, 45% of the more than 80 participants are well on their way to establishing the necessary processes and strategies for complying with the GDPR in the company. 26% are aware of the basics and 29% have changed few or no processes.

Data processing and data management: Poor

It is particularly noticeable that there is a big discrepancy between requirement and reality, especially with regard to data management. While 44% have already implemented a double-opt-in process for their e-mails and provide customers with ample information about changes to the privacy policy or changes in data usage (61%), only 29% see it as users to provide all personal data on request. Also, only 23% have processes to automatically and regularly review their records and, if necessary, delete data.

Also, many companies do not seem to have any processes that inform users or customers automatically as soon as personal data has been collected. This already suggests that it is generally difficult to inform users outside the double-opt-in procedure and the privacy policy approval checkbox about the use of their personal information.

Particularly in the case of traditional analogue distribution channels, where it was previously relatively common to also transfer business card information into a CRM system, new methods must be developed in the future in order to inform the contact person about this registration and obtain their consent.

By the way, there are already several apps in practice that enable you to record an active consent of the contact to use the data via smartphone, for example, directly at the fair.
Data management must not be limited to IT

Especially in the use and merging as well as control of the data, there seem to be still some hurdles. This may also be due to the fact that our survey has turned primarily to marketers and distributors, but data management is often left to IT companies alone.

The point is that if there is too little exchange between IT, Chief Data Officer (if any in the company) and marketing, sales and service, there is a greater risk that customer and user data will not be documented and processed in compliance.
Conclusion: Data-relevant processes must be revised throughout the company

The DSGVO prepares problems where the data has been insufficiently documented or not comprehensible.

There are many reasons why customer data is not treated in compliance with DSGVO:
Data silos complicate the merging and control of personal data.
An inadequate or different understanding of what personal data is and what is not personal information causes incorrect data handling.
A low technical understanding of the processes for data collection and processing ensures incorrect data usage.

Zusätzlich ist die Umsetzung genau dort schwieriger, wo es bislang noch keine zentrale Datenbank gab. Denn allein die Zusammenführung der Daten ist zeit- und ressourcenaufwändig. Doch nur eine zentrale Datenbank kann auch garantieren, dass die zukünftig notwendigen Prozesse zur Dokumentation, Bereitstellung, Verarbeitung und Löschung der Kundendaten auch wirklich einfach und im Idealfall automatisiert implementiert werden können.

In addition, of course, the entire process of data collection and processing should be reviewed company-wide and, if necessary, adapted to the GDPR. This includes not only the technical changes and processes but also the communication strategies. Simple language, accessibility to information and transparency with regard to the use of customer data have so far often been neglected. They should have been part of the data protection measures for a long time.

DATA QUALITY MANAGEMENT: A USE CASE FROM SUVA

2019-06-06T11:19:00.000-04:00

In a guest article, Jan Lundak, head of partner data management at Switzerland's largest accident insurer Suva, explains how his company introduced Data Quality Management, why it was necessary and what data quality management benefits are.

As part of the Swiss CRM Expert Forum, the insurance company Suva invited experts and entrepreneurs to Lucerne on April 12, 2018 to talk about "customer data and profiles", exchange experiences and present solutions. Initiator and founder of the forum Martin Stadelmann , Managing Director of ec4u expert consulting, led the day and moderated the exciting discussions.

Jan Lundak, Head of Partner Data Management at SUVA, presented the Data Quality Management of his company. He summarized his talk for our blog.

The initial situation: poor data ensure bad user experiences

A clean database is the foundation for companies to satisfy partners, customers and employees. But a database is not set in stone. New data is constantly flowing in, while old data is being replaced, deleted or combined. This can lead to the construction of a number of construction sites over time, which may result in outdated, incomplete, incorrect or duplicate data, making processing considerably more difficult.

In 2015, we had the problem in our company that we had massive costs and / or resource expenditures due to erroneous data sets in different areas. While certain areas created problems through mass processing of data, other people were busy merging, correcting, and maintaining the data to make it usable. As a result of inaccurate (address) data, there were high costs for postal returns and even higher costs due to time-consuming manual correction processes.

In the meantime, a digitally-planned information campaign had to be redirected to the post office, as we found out that we only had a usable e-mail address for our contacts in only 2.4% of the cases. A personalized e-mail campaign was impossible.

Even the telephone contact was made difficult at this time by various data quality problems. On average, one-third of our contact groups had problems identifying customer contact details directly from the phone number because the stored numbers were outdated or missing.

In short:

The (inadequate) quality of our database made our staff resource intensive whenever they wanted to review or use contact information.

Sometimes our customers and partners got too much, no or wrong information because the contact details were incorrect or missing.

And we were not able to design our marketing and communication strategies as modern, digital and, above all, customer-centered as we wanted, because the database regularly thwarted our calculations.

Before we could come up with a solution, we first had to identify why our database did not meet our expectations. In our analysis we identified three main points.

The causes: contaminated sites, lack of discipline and silos

Contaminated Sites

The longer a database exists, the higher the likelihood of outdated data. Often these are simply migrated with the implementation of new systems and grow over time.

The clean-up of contaminated sites is meanwhile extremely difficult and expensive. Systemic dependencies often prevent a simple cleanup.

Lack of discipline

Despite frequent contacts with the customer by various employees from various specialist processes, there has hitherto been little discipline in updating and adding new customer data in the central CRM system provided for this purpose.

In addition, the customer data is often scattered over many systems and sometimes even difficult to find in Excel files, which brings me to point 3.

Silo projects

Due to the strong focus on the needs of their own specialist processes and the processing of their own business processes, projects are often implemented in the specialist silos . The highly focused implementation neglects overarching and sustainable data quality interests.

The logical consequence of these silos are so-called "island systems". Although these systems are logically interconnected by communication interfaces, data-quality data design is lacking. A fault-tolerant application design is therefore the order of the day.

Based on these findings, we developed a concept for CRM partner data management and processes in 2015 and were able to create a position for Data Quality Management or Partner Data Management by the end of the year. This feature validates data quality, develops and implements optimization and cleanup solutions, and measures and evaluates progress.

The solution: technology, standards and rules

Technology:

For adjustment and regular control as well as enrichment we have commissioned an external service provider who supports us mechanically and manually.

In order to introduce scattered data into the new system, especially in Excel lists, we have used a CRM data importer. Contacts that appear on these lists can be read directly into CRM, including duplicate detection.

Among other things, our employees are equipped with mobile devices for field service in order to gain access to our CRM system. In customer service, iFY telephony helps to match phone numbers in real-time with existing customer data, and to call up the appropriate contact on the screen. Missing data is displayed immediately, so that the service employee can ask and supplement if necessary.
standards:

Uniform collection guidelines will help to control and regulate decentralized data collection in the future. In addition, it was necessary to adapt all specialist processes and AKVs (tasks, competences, responsibilities) in order to establish and institutionalize data quality-relevant processes.

A data quality index developed by us measures our master data on a monthly basis and generates a report. Based on this, annual data quality goals can be set and verified.

DOS and don'ts:

Before each project, the question must be answered, whether master data is used and how. The concept must then be submitted to the partner data manager for review.

In addition, we want to greatly restrict the manual processing of data in the future. Also, the control when creating new records, whether this may already exist in the system, should be strengthened to avoid duplication.

In addition, we want to motivate our employees to use interfaces to customer data more frequently to update contact information.

Conclusion:

With clear definitions of master data attributes and collection policies that can be viewed by employees at all times, data quality can be better met in the future. This is supported by monthly measurements and analyzes and data quality goals. Technological support is provided by applications and systems that make it easier to verify, use, and clean data, while preventing / complicating the entry of incorrect records.

Regular data cleansing including a catalog of measures also ensures that the planned measures can be continuously reviewed and, if necessary, strengthened or adjusted.

Of course, these measures and changes require support from top management and sponsors within the company that motivate and inform. Every user has to be involved in the process and changes. Although anxiety is a driving factor, it should probably be used deliberately. It is much more important to be patient. In addition to the technological changes, data quality management also requires a change in processes and the handling of data. This requires time, coaching and patience.

PRIVACY INSTEAD OF WALLS: THE NEW VIEW ON SECURE DATA

2019-06-06T11:17:00.002-04:00

The firewall alone is no longer enough

For a long time, having a good firewall was the best way to protect data on your own computer or intranet. But in the age of digitization, firewalls can severely limit collaboration outside their own four (office) walls. In addition, a firewall alone is not sufficient protection. When we think of the Trojan horse, the weaknesses of a firewall quickly become apparent: once a virus or a person has made it behind the walls, there are often few ways to stop them.

Ismail writes aptly:

"Regardless of the industry, companies need to be sure that they are driving a data-centric protection program that bases defensive processes on the movement of data rather than building a wall that stops intruders."

This realization is not necessarily new, but has to be implemented many times in the infrastructure, in the processes and also in the behavior. A good example of the problem of traditional data protection methods is, for example, data processing via mobile phone apps. Many apps protect data on the phone, but not on the way. Say, the device itself is protected, but the data transfer is not. So that would be like transferring money from one highly secure bank to the next with a rickety coach instead of a secured transporter and trained security personnel.

Data management ensures privacy

In order to implement data protection in a modern way, companies must do something that is also necessary in other areas: they must trace and map the paths of their data.

How is data collected?

Where are they stored?

How is data accessed?

How is data shared?

What happens when third parties access the data (and what do their internal processes look like?)

How do you get data from one terminal to the next?

These questions include an understanding of both technical and manual processes. What use is the most secure data processing if the employee inspects customer data visibly for all fellow travelers on the laptop while on the train?

Another aspect that Ismail emphasizes and that we have already mentioned on this blog a couple of times is the autonomy of the users or customers. Personal data protection also includes informing the appropriate person about the use of their data. Ideally, she should even have autonomy to design the use herself. In this area, a classic IT topic is closely linked to customer service. In the future, it will not only be important to comply with laws such as the GDPR, but also to leave customers the so-called "data sovereignty" and to integrate this into customer processes in the company.

MARKETING AUTOMATION WITHOUT CLEAN DATA IS LIKE COOKING WITHOUT INGREDIENTS

2019-06-06T11:16:00.001-04:00

Eighty-five percent of B2B marketers feel they can get more out of their marketing automation platforms *. But that is only possible if the data processed in it has a clear structure. Effective data management is the foundation of your marketing success.

Marketing Automation is a fantastic way to automatically send necessary customer information on the one hand and on the other hand to play individual content on different channels. But a prerequisite for a successful marketing automation strategy lies in the quality of your content and your data. We have already explained the first one here and here. Today I would like to discuss the second with my colleague Ilona Jaskolka.

Marketing Automation and Marketing Performance stands and falls with data management.

What is meant by data management?

The data management in the true sense covers all processes and measures to define, structure, collect, organize, store and process data. It also includes a regular review and evaluation of the data and the derivation of recommendations for action.

In the first step, data management begins with the definition of the data structure, the definition of which systems interact with each other, and where and in what form the data is collected. Many marketers are aware of why the topic of data quality occurs regularly in marketing automation surveys.

According to an Ascend2 study , the most difficult implementation area of Marketing Automation integration is data management. A survey of insider marketing has meanwhile asked companies about the four success factors of marketing performance. Among the four factors, data cleanliness as well as visibility and reporting were mentioned. For 40% of the companies surveyed, it is a challenge to clean records. Another 9% are aware that their data is in the silo, unstructured and therefore hardly usable.

This means that every 10th company can not use its data at all and even have problems merging related records. Most companies (55%) use data only for reports, but not for advanced analytics. Other surveys also show that successful companies can leverage their data because they are structured and can even use predictive analytics and modeling in all (11%) or some (48%) marketing areas.

Data management is important and complex

So it can be concluded that companies are well aware that data is fundamental to successful marketing, but that preserving a clean database is fraught with some difficulties, especially when various unstructured data has already crept in.

When is a "spring cleaning" of your data worthwhile?

If you have a lot of unstructured data

Unstructured data is "digitized information that can not be assigned anywhere because it has neither metadata nor taxonomies." So a system can not do anything with this data. Under certain circumstances, such data sets can also entail risks if, for example, they contain sensitive information. If they are not categorized, they can not be managed in compliance with data protection laws.

If many of your data is incomplete and you have problems completing it

Personalization comes first when it comes to marketing automation. But this can fail even with the smallest deficits in your database. So it is enough, if not all your contacts contain an assignment for the salutation and already appears instead of the individualized " Good day, Mrs. Schmidt ", the little popular "Good day Mrs. / Mr. Schmidt".

If too many doublets have accumulated

Not every system can handle different spellings or different e-mail addresses for the same contact name. Since in many companies in particular the sales department has manually entered contact data for years, it can quickly happen that small spelling errors or different address data provide for duplicate entries.

If your data is outdated

Contact details are not set in stone. It can always happen that certain contact persons have changed the company, the address or e-mail has changed or a wedding provides for a "new" last name. In an individual case, that's not bad, but outdated data often accumulates and can often be laboriously identified and updated.

Automated processes are often lacking here to identify so-called "hard bounces" (if an e-mail address can no longer be contacted, more about this here). On the one hand, such data can damage your sender reputation and on the other hand obfuscate your evaluation. Of course, if you contact a lot of people, but they have outdated contacts that are no longer active, that obviously falsifies the results of click and open rates.

If the double opt-in is missing

At least since the Basic Data Protection Regulation is final, the topic of the double-opt-in for automated e-mail messages plays a major role. But many companies still have various contacts without DOI for different reasons and do not know how to deal with them.

If you already collect data in different places, but you can not use them

In many places companies ask contact data. But can you access this resource for personalized, automated communication? Do you know in which system, at which point you find what information? Does marketing, sales and service use the same database? Or are you still dealing with individual data silos?

things i wore: instagram edition

2012-03-30T14:10:00.001-04:00

instagram is legiorno if you want more.

since the new year, ive moved to chicago and spent some time in vegas. #20something

road trip diary: marfa, texas

2011-10-05T23:02:00.002-04:00

one of my good friends moved to san diego, so we took a little (ha!) road trip there last weekend and one the way we had the chance to spend the day in marfa, texas. jane of sea of shoes put this place on my map with her posts and i was stoked to be able to experience it for myself.

we drove around for a little bit to get our bearings and figure out where we wanted to start exploring (everywhere) and where we should park the car (anywhere).

i really wanted to eat lunch at the food shark, on the dining bus, but sadly it was closed on saturdays. thankfully, this little crepe truck was waiting for us under a pavilion and the roasted veggie was awesome.

marfa is the home of the movie giant with elizabeth taylor and james dean, two of the dreamiest and most iconic actors of all time.

moonlight gemstones was so beautiful. paul graybeal and ben toro create the absolute most beautiful custom jewelry, which you can order through their site and the rock collection is absolutely incredible.

cochineal was delicious and it is the quaintest little space with small red tables and matching chairs set up in a gravel courtyard with christmas lights twinkling in the surrounding trees. the butternut squash soup was so good, mmmm i could totally go for that right now.

padres was super fun and full of locals and out of towners. there was a strange mix of young kids, hipsters, and cowboys. the vibe was really relaxed and the beer was cheap. my kind of place, for sure.

being from florida, texas was pretty surreal in general, but marfa was a little special. the people were cool and interesting and most of all, really nice. plus, i have a serious addiction to old things, vintage worn out books for example, and marfa felt like an entire bookstore full of them, but with impeccably crisp white pages. like it had never been opened.

shark mouth

2011-09-16T10:53:00.002-04:00

missoni x target (i actually really really love this shirt), alexander wang boots, a shark jaw someone brought as a gift to our office, and beachside bars with a friend

alexander wang, spring 2012

2011-09-16T10:39:00.002-04:00

the obvious references to motorcross is awesome.

photocred: marcio madiera for VOGUE

proenza schouler spring 2012

2011-09-15T21:35:00.003-04:00

i love that no matter their inspiration, jack and lazaro consistently manage to keep their clothes fit for a lady, but styled for an it girl. the pieces are always elegant and the cuts are so feminine, yet they're so much fun and nothing stuffy. styled right, any of these looks could be paired with sneakers and a messy topknot. and don't even get me started on the sunglasses. #bangin'

photo cred: Marcio Madiera for VOGUE

3.1 phillip lim spring 2012

2011-09-15T21:14:00.002-04:00

i love the lavender paired with a sort of pale yellow which could almost be described as a faded neon. the first look is totally to die for THAT BLAZER #perfect. phillip lim always hits it right on the nose with the dreamiest color palette and chic fits.

photo cred: Marcio Madeira for VOGUE via because im addicted

new kids on the block had a bunch of hits

2009-05-12T18:21:00.005-04:00

I wore this one of the nights we roamed the streets until dawn while in New Orleans. I've been really enjoying my summer, which is sort of a win/fail, because as a recent and very responsible granduate I should be searching harder for a big girl job. But I'm still young right?

On Monday night the DJ decided to randomly throw back LFO's "Summer Girls" and I sort of dig it all over again. I'm embarassed that I still remembered all the words. I remember when the song came out and LFO had their 15 minutes, I was on vacay in Key West with my Dad and my sister like we did every year at Christmastime. We were laying out by the ocean and eating fresh blackened fish we had caught that day and I was trying to teach Dad the lyrics. The same father who lets me steal all his vintage Rolling Stones and Harley Davidson t-shirts. Ah, nostalgia.

wearing: thrifted & DIY shortened tea dress, random tights, f21 bracelets & bag, gianni bini moto boots

tallulah+leopardprint=i die.

2009-04-20T17:05:00.002-04:00

tallulah morton, always fun & effortless.
pc:thecobrasnake

georgia jagger

2009-04-09T17:16:00.005-04:00

Vogue Russa, April 2009.

Photographed by Matt Irwin.

pc. tfs

i have pictures from ani difranco but i cant seem to get them uploaded

2009-03-26T16:04:00.004-04:00

sort of old cobra, but soso good. cut offs, YSL tribs, and a sequined/zippered/backless hot steeez? that's a win in my book.

school is taking over my life, apologies for being maaaayjah MIA.

pc: thecobrasnake

testosterone boys and harlequin girls

2009-03-14T20:31:00.002-04:00

Last night Marq and I went out for a bit, which resulted in us hanging out with the guy who has done her tattoos and also a few of Lil' Wayne's. Small world.

h&m scarf tied as a top, forever 21 shorts & belt, primark bag, hot topic cuff