What is data validation & how does it work?

Data quality management is more important than ever, as poor management can lead to data breaches, non-compliance fines, fraud and more.

Whatever sector your business is in, having efficient data quality management in place could make a huge difference. One of the most important steps towards good data quality is data validation. 

Understanding data validation and how it works is important for businesses, as explained by ids.

What does data validation mean?

Data validation is a method to check the accuracy and authenticity of your data, and is usually performed when you are planning to move or migrate data. For this reason, this method can be considered a type of data cleansing. Making sure your data is complete, with no duplications or blank values, can ensure data is accurate and ready for use. 

This process can help you to verify data and ensure your analysis is correct, and is essential in any sort of data handling task. It is often used as a part of ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) processes, allowing you to move data and combine it with other data for further analysis.

In some cases, data validation can be challenging depending on the complexity and amount of data. Data is often distributed across multiple databases, with some of it outdated and irrelevant. By carrying out this process, you can maintain your data’s integrity and ensure your data remains in line with your targets.

How does it work?

There are a number of ways you can perform data validation. Validation by scripts is an option, if you are proficient in coding, which allows you to write a script to verify the information is within the required parameters. However, this method can be time-consuming.

There are also software programmes available that can perform data validation for you. These programmes are automated and can cleanse, validate and provide assurance of your data, while reducing time and human error. Programmes like this can also remove the need for sampling, instead of carrying out this process on 100% of your data. 

Benefits of data validation

Data validation is important because it means you can trust your business’ data is accurate and reliable. It is a helpful way of mitigating any issues across projects, ensuring you have the right information to make an informed decision.

This method can also ensure you protect your business’ reputation, with data that is compliant and cleansed of impurities. By validating your databases, you can have complete confidence in your data.