Database auditing gives IT the ability to see who accessed information, what data was accessed, when it was accessed, and through which means the data was accessed. Arm the IT department with the proper tools to protect corporate information assets.

Maintaining data quality is one of the most pressing challenges facing today's organizations. This research note provides an explanation of data quality and reviews common challenges and solutions for IT managers looking to increase the quality of data in their enterprises.

A critical component of any master data management (MDM) project is finding the appropriate architecture to support the solution. Making the right choice requires an understanding of the standard architectures and their associated benefits and drawbacks. Find an MDM architecture that will address business needs and fit the existing IT environment.

Managing multiple enterprise data sources is painful, especially when they contain conflicting or incomplete information. Steps must be taken to reconcile the data sources and establish a master data set for reporting and analytics. To gain control over enterprise data, implement a master data management (MDM) strategy to create a single authoritative source.

Legislation and growing demands from privacy groups are forcing companies of all sizes and industries to encrypt their sensitive data. Assess the enterprise’s need and state of readiness for data encryption.

Legislation and growing demands from privacy groups are forcing companies of all sizes and industries to encrypt their sensitive data. This Excel tool is designed to assess the enterprise’s need and state of readiness for data encryption.

For many organizations, transactional hub architecture represents the ideal Master Data Management (MDM) solution. However, it may not be possible or necessary for some environments given the cost and complexity of this project. When appropriate, IT managers should take a phased approach and start the project with a solution that fits their current needs.

Building or purchasing a Master Data Management (MDM) solution will not solve master data problems on its own. Employee behavior and organizational processes need to be changed first. Assemble a data governance group to drive the organizational change necessary for MDM success.

Data governance is a vital component of any master data management strategy. The creation of a governance program depends upon executive sponsorship and gaining the support of key stakeholders. Develop a clear project strategy from the outset to avoid political fallout.

Protecting data at rest is usually the responsibility of data center managers. Legislation like Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI DSS, HIPAA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, and others are forcing enterprises in all industries to encrypt their data stores. Draft a database security strategy by assessing the need for database encryption and learning how to pick the best solution for the enterprise.

Virtualizing the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) environment drives cost savings through server consolidation and improved development efficiencies. Increasing the ease and speed with which environments are recovered is a key enabler. Pursue virtualization for the development stack, but keep the production environment on physical hardware for at least another year.

Development costs are one of the primary culprits for the high cost of maintaining an ERP system. Control these costs by using virtualization as a key enabling technology.

Since IT personnel have greater access to data than non-IT workers, the impact and risk of data theft committed by IT employees tends to be higher. Data integrity and security must begin with solid data privacy principles and practices. Align the enterprise’s access controls with a privacy mindset to mitigate threats of data loss.