Unexpected Sources Of Value

A couple months ago, I wrote in my weekly online column about the value of the data firms collect. But there is another value discussion to be had about data management, and that concerns finding value in how the data itself is managed.

Hervé Morel-Derocle, CIO at Axa Investment Managers, who will deliver a keynote address at this month's European Financial Information Summit in London, tells Inside Reference Data that his firm's IT operations existed in a "black box," keeping their value locked away. Unlocking that value requires a firm's IT and business leaders to work together and share the burden of data management. Both sides at Axa were incentivized by the value gained from making systems capable of handling growing volumes of data, and especially by better handling costs, Morel-Derocle says.

Also in this issue, we look at the data supply chain and its value for producing golden copy, itself a valuable piece of data. GoldenSource's Stephen Engdahl observes that a collaborative approach is best suited to making the data supply chain more efficient-which is similar to Morel-Derocle's advice for the IT and business sides in firms. The process of evaluating data providers is another decision affecting what value and quality data will have, as the EDM Council's John Bottega says in this story.

Thinking about regulation that has an effect on data operations, a forward-looking data manager ought to see that value can be generated in the form of better data processes-just as collaboration and evaluation of data management methods can produce value from data processes. Joanna Wright, who has joined Inside Reference Data, reports on the European Market Infrastructure Regulation as a major spur for industry action on data reporting.

Currently, as Engdahl's colleague Neill Vanlint says in this story, firms are using temporary, stopgap measures to meet EMIR requirements and are looking for more sustainable solutions-ones that will be less costly and more strategic over the long term. That, in Vanlint's view, means more holistic projects and spreading information management responsibilities throughout the firm.

EMIR is not the only impetus for generating or collecting valuable data. As also covered in this issue, upgrades to the Common Reporting and Financial Reporting guidelines, as well as the Solvency II capital adequacy and risk management directive, are all placing demands on data infrastructures. Bloomberg PolarLake's John Randles points out that setting data governance strategy can be a differentiator and an advantage.

When thinking about data and value, as these stories illustrate, producing value doesn't depend solely on the content of the data. That can hinge on the reasons for collecting the data, the ways firms plan and strategize to manage their data, and the way the data is processed.