Data is arguably the lifeblood of any startup business. You depend on it to make important decisions for your company. And data is also useful for internal improvements too, helping you better determine how to go on with improving your work.
But turning this data into something more useful is not a simple process. In fact, data transformation can be rather tedious. And this can be harder to do for a small startup like yours. So, you might wonder if there is a way to do it effectively. Let’s look at how outsourcing with Virtua can be that solution.
Understanding Data Transformation
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As the name says, data transformation is the process of turning the data you have discovered into information your team can use for various purposes. The goal is to make it easier to understand and more organized. You would also want to have the data ready for use in different tools.
Why Data Transformation Matters For Your Startup Business
Beyond the above, data transformation is vital for business operations for several other reasons. Understanding these reasons will help you better determine what role it will play and how you will better execute it.
Protecting Your Business Processes From Errors
Sometimes, even a small error in the data you use can result in a significant disruption of your operations. For instance, a single data duplicate can wreak havoc on other related information you have. And correcting all of these errors can be a lot more work.
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Data transformation helps you catch and weed out these errors early on. And when you have your data properly formatted, it can be used by various business applications without a hitch. This ensures that services relying on these applications can run effectively.
Better Handling Of Multiple Data Types
When running a startup business, you won’t be relying on just one set of data. In fact, you will most often have to deal with multiple types. Handling these varied data sets as they are can be rather taxing.
Through data transformation, you find relationships between these multiple data sets. This helps make sure that the different tools and systems you use for these are compatible with each other. That is essential for ensuring the integrity of your data ecosystem.
Better Data Distribution
Lastly, the process plays a vital role in how well you distribute data to the different departments. In particular, it makes it easier for you to tailor the data to the intended recipients. With that, the receiving end doesn’t have to figure out how to utilize the data they get.
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The work also goes the other way. The departments can quickly process and get their work sent over you. This seamless back and forth transfer of data is essential for areas like customer service where your teams need constant data feedback.
The Stages Of Data Transformation
While the actual data transformation work will vary depending on the industry, there are several general steps that it follows. Understanding how these steps happen will help you determine the best way to structure and outsource them as needed.
Data Discovery
The first step in the process is gathering the data you need. Note that the actual collection work is just the first part here. You will also need to do the consolidation and organization of everything at this stage so that data can be readily used.
The work is done both by automated tools and human analysts. Automated tools are the ones that handle the organization work, sorting the data based on discernable fields like file extensions. Meanwhile, human analysts can use data profiling strategies and tools to further study the data and refine the organization.
Data Mapping
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This is the stage where the actual planning for the data transformation work happens. Here, you begin to specify how individual data fields should be modified, joined, and aggregated. Your goal is to identify the most suitable ways to change the data into the needed form. Additionally, analysts need to consider potential loss of data during transformation and how to mitigate it.
Tool Generation
At this stage, your team starts developing the tools needed to transform the data. For instance, you might develop a software that quickly processes the data. You can either do the work from scratch or have a third-party transformation tool to develop a premade script for you.
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A particular goal here is to ensure the tool you develop is user-friendly for the multiple departments This includes creating a visual design that would be familiar to everyone. Here, you need to consider the different platforms that your teams might use.
Execution And Review
Once your data tools are ready, you can start implementing them. While using the tools , you can also start reviewing their effectiveness. Here, you do quality checks to see if the data is being processed as intended. You may also do corrections to ensure that it is in good quality before being handed over.
How Your Startup Business Can Outsource Data Transformation
Outsourcing the data transformation process of your startup company follows pretty much the same course as other process outsourcing efforts. However, depending on the limitations of your team, you might want to focus on sending out the more technical aspects of the work. These include the following.
- Data cleansing: The process of cleaning the initial data set of things like errors and duplication.
- Data tagging: Marking process for linking and cross referencing your data.
- Annotations: Adding notes and remarks into your data sets for future references.
- Visualization: The work of presenting your data in easy to follow visual formats.
In most cases, you would want to outsource multiple tasks to a single provider. This ensures consistency from one task output to another. But if you are using multiple providers, you need to closely coordinate with them to ensure proffer transfer of data.
Outsourcing Your Support Work
The main data transformation work itself isn’t the only thing that you can outsource. You can also send the support work over to a provider. This support work includes facilitating communication between your processing team and the other departments that use the data.
While Virtua Solutions not a specialist data transformation provider, we can take care of that support work. Our virtual assistants can serve as communication officers to get you in touch with the data team. Additionally, we can help manage the team’s schedule to ensure that the work is done on time.
Keep Your Startup Business On The Right Track With Data Transformation
Doing data transformation right can give your startup business the edge over its competitors. With it, you can also advance your business towards new directions. Be ready to invest in it to get its full potential. We are here to help your effort. Contact us today and discover how to use data more effectively.