Data entry is one of the most crucial processes of business management. Leveraging information for making smarter decisions and defining an organization’s objectives is only possible if you have accurate data with you in the first place. And for you to count on data, it should be keyed in the exact format that you can access without difficulty. Hence the inherent need for data entry professionals to step in, and make it rather easy for you to get the most out of the business-critical data at your disposal.
Still not sure why data entry is imperative to your business, and more importantly, the way you manage it? Read on:
Understanding data entry
Let’s start with the basics. Business data refers to information like facts and statistics that may have been collected for analysis, calculation, reasoning, decision making or future reference. This data could be made available to you via just about any source, including handwritten documents, computer codes, spreadsheets, etc. However, sometimes, the data from a specific source may need to be accessed through a different one. This is exactly where the concept of data entry kicks in. Transcribing information and data and keying it into the desired format (or source) is what data entry is all about. Goes without saying that data must be keyed in with high precision, keeping the anomalies and errors at bay. Yet another reason for you to look out for experienced data entry professionals who know the drill.
And while you are at it, do make sure that they know their way around different types of data entry, including of course:
- Product data entry
- Manual data entry
- Online data entry
- Offline data entry
- Numeric/text data entry
- Mailing list compilation
- Data mining and data entry
- Remote data entry
- Logistics data entry
Importance of data entry:
Now that you’re aware of what data entry actually is, it’s time to understand how and why it is important for your business to flourish.
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You can have immediate access to information
Often, businesses need instant access to data to perform various important activities. Take decision making for example. Accurate data entry makes this possible by providing on-demand access to the required information, which eventually improves the business processes.
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You can save up on valuable time and money
Data entry ensures that accurate information is readily available for you to use, in your preferred format. As a result, you don’t need to search through heaps of data. This helps in saving up on valuable time, money and efforts.
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It can help preserve data
Technology is changing at a fast pace. The data format that you have currently adopted may get outdated or might not even work tomorrow. However, with data entry, you’ll have nothing to worry about. You can have your data converted to any format in accordance with the latest advancements.
Challenges faced in data entry:
As easy as it sounds, data entry can be quite a challenge. Here’s why:
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Data entry is prone to errors
Data entry comprises various kinds of processes such as copy-paste, drag and drop, document linking, etc. Since these are performed manually, potential errors are always liable to creep in. And when it comes to decision making, even the slightest of error can lead to incorrect decisions, which eventually makes the business suffer. Efficiency needs to be ensured at all times to avoid such situations.
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Maintaining the data quality is difficult
Data often contains missing values or complex fields wherein the data entry professional is required to fill accurate values. At times, the values entered may be incorrect, which can jeopardize the data quality.
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Data is way too vast
Huge volumes of data can be difficult to process and work with. This usually leads to discrepancies, costing businesses the integrity of their data and other processes.
Tips to improve data entry processes:
Data entry may be a challenging task, but not one that can’t be tackled. The biggest concern is avoiding the errors and anomalies. Here’s how you can address it, and maintain higher accuracy.
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Identify the source of error
If your data has quite a few errors, the best way to get rid of them would be to cut them off right at the source, which is of course only possible when you are able to identify it, to begin with.
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Incorporate the latest software and technology
Entering data manually is the primary cause of most errors, especially transcription and transposition errors. Using software to perform the data entry operations will reduce the chances of such errors.
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Follow data accuracy standards
There are certain standards regarding data monitoring, linking, profiling, etc. which must be followed without fail to maintain the data quality.
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Scheduling error reports
Regular error reports will keep you in the know so that you don’t miss out on any of the errors that could jeopardize your data. On that note, report automation tools can be used to identify manual errors and generate an error report daily, weekly, and monthly.
Accurate data and information hold the key to the growth and productivity of your business. As a decision maker, you will need access to valuable information, every now and then. The availability of which can only be ensured if you could enter the data with optimum accuracy, or get someone to enter it for you.
Not sure where to begin? Fret not. Our data experts do. Data entry professionals at SunTec are adept at working with multiple types of data entry processes. Just write to us at info@suntecindia.com to hire one.
