Data Driven? Or Process Driven?

Artificial Intelligence Information Technology Teams

Mike Frenette Manager, IT PMO| Halifax Water (retired) Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Would you say your thinking is driven by data or processes?

This question may be somewhat esoteric, but as a manager of a PMO, who used to be a DBA and a data zealot, I still find myself wondering what is inside the minds of each of the members of the various project teams within our PMO when it comes to analyzing the needs of our business users.

There are probably many ways to elicit business requirements, but I have have always started with the data - the entities and the relationships. I feel we derive so much more by delving what data entities there are in a business and how they relate one to other than we do from asking questions about the everyday processes one undertakes in the execution of duties, processes that could change at the drop of a hat. But ... the data model that drives the buseinss generally does not change.

As GenAI becomes more prevalent and the data that feeds it becomes more and more critical to produce useful answers to the questions we ask of it, and the prompting we undertake, I am more convinced that a data-driven line of thinking will trump a process-driven one every time.

Consider the simple question of whether a particular relationship between entities is one to one, one to many, or many to many and the complex discussions that can arise when the answers are contemplated.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

If you had to pick one, are you data-driven or process-driven?

Posted: Apr 4, 2024 4:10 PM

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Dr. Deepa Bhide Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Apr 05, 2024 1:02 PM

Replying to Keith Novak

...

I would argue that it is a bit of a, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" dilemma.

Data by itself is meaningless. Is one unit of something important or not? It is only when data is interpreted that it becomes information which may be useful. Gathering data requires a process as does interpreting it whether it be an explicit process like AI algorithms or implicit like heuristics. Flaws in either result in unreliable information.

Even when a process is developed to produce repeatably correct results, it requires data to confirm correctness at the outset, and that the process remains "in control". The elements within the process may change with time, like a machine that slowly drifts out of tolerance, and the external environment may change affecting the inputs to the process.

Keith Novak I agree with you on the dilemma of chick and the egg. In my opinion, its both, data and process driven that are important.

Posted: Apr 7, 2024 11:36 PM

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Data Driven? Or Process Driven?

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