Data management comprises all the disciplines related to managing data as a valuable resource.

Overview

The official definition provided by DAMA or Boucher: “Data Resource Management is the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures that properly manage the full data lifecycle needs of an enterprise.” This definition is fairly broad and encompasses a number of professions which may not have direct technical contact with lower-level aspects of data management, such as relational database management.

Alternatively, the definition provided in the DAMA Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA-DMBOK) is: “Data management is the development, execution and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that control, protect, deliver and enhance the value of data and information assets.”

Data

The word data refers to groups of information that represent the qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data (plural of “datum”, which is seldom used) are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which information and knowledge are derived.