GEIA - Government Electronics & Information Technology Association

	GEIA-859 Data Management Buy GEIA Collections Online subscriptions to multiple documents on various subjects Info To speak with an IHS Subject Matter Expert call 1-888-752-0334, outside the US/Canada call 303-397-2892. More Top GEIA Standards...

GEIA-859 - Data Management

Foreword
The identification, definition, preparation, control, archiving, and disposition of data all require a sizable investment in labor, supporting systems, and time. The purpose behind enacting consistent, high-quality data management (DM) is to make certain that the enterprise reaps a return on this investment. DM applies effective processes and tools to acquire and provide stewardship for data. A well-designed DM process ensures that customers receive the data they need when they need it, in the form they need, and of requisite quality.

When DM principles are applied using effective practices, the return on the investment in data is maximized and product life-cycle costs are reduced. This standard is intended to be used when establishing, performing, or evaluating DM processes in any industry, business enterprise, or governmental enterprise.

This standard describes DM principles and methods using a neutral DM terminology. Sections 1 through 9 are normative. Annexes are informative.

The methods of DM have undergone significant changes as paper documents transitioned to digital data and continue to evolve. As a result, many policies, manuals, and instructions for DM, which mostly addressed DM for defense products, became obsolete; they described procedures that were adapted to efficient paper-based management of paper deliverables. This standard is intended to articulate contemporary DM principles and methods that are broadly applicable to management of electronic and non-electronic data in both the commercial and government sectors. Development of this standard began in August 2000 when the Electronic Industries Alliance's (EIA) G-33 Committee on Data and Configuration Management initiated task PN 4888 to develop a consensus standard for data management. This is the first release of the standard. Contributors to this standard are identified in Annex A.

Introduction
Scope
Data is information (e.g., concepts, thoughts, opinions) that has been recorded in a form that is convenient to move or process. Data can be tables of values of various types (numbers, characters, and so on). Data can also take more complex forms such as engineering drawings and other documents, pictures, maps, sound, and animation.

Data management, from the perspective of this standard, consists of the disciplined processes and systems that plan for, acquire, and provide stewardship for product and product-related business data, consistent with requirements, throughout the product and data life cycles. Thus, this standard primarily addresses product data and the business data intrinsic to collaboration during product acquisition and sustainment. It is recognized, however, that the principles articulated in this standard also have broader application to business data and operational data generally. It is also recognized that the data addressed by this standard is subject to data administration, metadata management, records management, and other processes applied at the enterprise level, and that these principles must be applied in that enterprise context.

Data has many purposes, including stating requirements, providing proof of achievement, establishing a basis for long-term product support, and many others. Deliverable data (customer-accessible information) represents only a small fraction of the project data. In general, a vast amount of design, development, fabrication, and manufacturing data remains the intellectual property of the developer/producer. Further, the value of data is not limited to its use in support of a particular product: data may have a life cycle longer than that of the product it describes. For instance, data from previous projects forms part of the foundation for new product and process design. Data also supports the enterprise in process redesign and quality. Thus data is essential to competitive position. An enterprise's data-if not properly safeguarded-can also be misused by a competitor to the competitor's advantage. For these reasons, data is an integral part of an enterprise's intellectual assets and overall enterprise knowledge.

Overview
This standard comprises nine fundamental data management principles. Principles are high-level descriptive statements about high-quality DM; they establish what high-quality DM looks like. Each principle has a set of enablers, which provide the mechanisms of DM.

Two different viewpoints, corresponding to product and data life cycles, are important to DM. Product data (and related business data) is normally acquired or created as part of the development of a new product or similar initiative. This is the project perspective. Principle 2, which addresses the planning for and acquisition of data, and Principle 4, which deals with the identification of products, views, and related data elements, are written primarily from the perspective of the individual project. The remaining principles apply at both the project and enterprise levels. Principle 9 relates DM to knowledge management (KM).

The degree to which the DM principles in this standard apply to a product varies over the product's life cycle. Similarly, they vary in applicability over the data life cycle. Some principles may not apply during every phase of either life cycle.

This standard addresses the functions of DM but not how to organize for DM. Each enterprise, for valid reasons, locates the functions of DM within enterprise elements that make sense within its own enterprise environment.

This standard is not intended for use as a compliance document or an evaluation mechanism for DM projects. It is intended for use as a source and reference document for either purpose. Appropriate application of the functions and principles in this standard enables the user to plan and implement a DM program for a product, project, or enterprise.