Data Asset Management System for IT Infrastructure Simplification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small and medium businesses face challenges in managing data access and proliferation due to ad hoc information access patterns, leading to inefficiencies, compliance issues, and increased IT costs, which hinder their ability to be agile and simplify their infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a data asset management system that defines authorization and authentication permissions, conducts audits, and generates summaries of results to proactively discover and manage data proliferation, using a data steward rules engine to enforce compliance and simplify data infrastructure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If ad hoc access to information is allowed for performance analysis and forecasting, then users can access and re-purpose data from corporate sources, but data proliferation occurs and compliance issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces data stewards as intermediary entities between data sources and data consumers. These data stewards act as mediators who manage data domains, control access permissions, and ensure compliance with corporate policies. This intermediary layer enables controlled data access while preventing uncontrolled proliferation and maintaining compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary authorization and authentication mechanisms before data access is granted. Data access permissions are defined and approved in advance through a formal authorization process, ensuring that only authorized users can access specific data domains. This preliminary action prevents ad hoc access and maintains compliance before data operations occur.
2Productivity
If data is extracted and re-purposed for multiple reporting and measurement processes, then performance analysis capabilities are enhanced, but multiple versions of the truth emerge and compliance is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into distinct data domains, each managed by a specific data steward. This segmentation organizes corporate data into manageable units with clear ownership and access controls. By dividing data into domains rather than allowing free access to all data, the system enables targeted performance analysis while maintaining data consistency and preventing multiple versions of the truth.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements audit mechanisms that provide feedback on data access and usage. Audits track data operations and verify compliance with authorization rules, providing continuous feedback to ensure data consistency. This feedback loop helps identify and correct deviations from authorized data usage, maintaining reliability across reporting and measurement processes.
3Productivity
If duplicate data persists within the enterprise, then data availability is maintained across systems, but IT costs increase and infrastructure simplification is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes centralized data domains that serve multiple functions and user groups universally. Instead of duplicating data across multiple systems, a single data domain can be accessed and utilized by multiple users and processes through authorized access. This universal access approach maintains data availability across the enterprise while eliminating the need for duplicate data storage, reducing total data volume and associated costs.
4Device complexity
If IT assets are retired or centralized, then infrastructure simplification is achieved, but the impact on business operations is unknown
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements comprehensive audit mechanisms that provide feedback on data access and usage patterns before and during infrastructure changes. These audits track which users and processes depend on specific data assets, providing visibility into the impact of retirement or centralization decisions. This feedback enables informed decision-making about IT asset management while ensuring business continuity through identified dependencies.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing data asset management activities are provided. A method includes defining authorization and authentication permissions for accessing network entities of an organization, defining rules for conducting audits and audit response activities with respect to the network entities, and executing an audit of the network entities by applying the rules to events occurring at the network entities during the audit. The method also includes generating a summary of results of the audit.