FLAGSHIP DIAGNOSTIC / 01 TWO WEEKS · BOUNDED SCOPE
Know what to fix first — and why it matters.
The Data Quality Quick Scan turns a visible business problem into measured evidence. We profile the priority data, validate the material findings with its owners and connect each issue to the decision, process or outcome it affects.
A scan should change a decision — not just produce statistics.
The work begins with the business consequence of unreliable data and ends when the organisation can make a defensible choice about its next action.
Where is trust breaking?
Identify the sources, fields and quality patterns undermining a priority report, workflow, customer outcome or AI use case.
What is the effect?
Connect verified issues to rework, delay, leakage, risk, customer friction or a decision that cannot yet be trusted.
What should happen next?
Separate urgent fixes from planned improvements, acceptable exceptions, ownership gaps and questions needing more evidence.
Clear enough to deliver. Bounded enough to trust.
The standard scope is designed to produce validated evidence in two weeks. Timing and final coverage are confirmed after the initial scoping conversation.
- One priority business decision, report, process or use case
- Up to three priority structured data sources
- Agreed critical data elements and business rules
- Representative extracts sized to the question and handling constraints
- Profiling across applicable quality dimensions
- Finding validation with business and data owners
- Impact, risk and remediation prioritisation
- Enterprise-wide data discovery or assurance
- Production data cleansing or source-system changes
- Platform implementation or data migration execution
- Cyber security penetration testing or legal compliance advice
- AI model development, deployment or automated decision-making
- Assurance beyond the supplied evidence and agreed boundaries
Five controlled steps from question to action.
Business validation is built into the workflow so a technical anomaly is not automatically treated as a business defect.
Scope & protect
Agree one business decision or process, the priority sources, critical fields, owners and secure handling rules.
Receive & verify
Confirm the extracts, structures, record counts, definitions and known limitations before profiling begins.
Profile & test
Measure agreed quality dimensions, retain repeatable evidence and isolate material patterns rather than listing every anomaly.
Validate & prioritise
Review findings with business and data owners, confirm operational impact and separate root causes from symptoms.
Decide & plan
Deliver the decision brief, evidence pack and sequenced 90-day action plan with accountable owners.
Transparent measures. Visible confidence.
Only applicable dimensions are scored. Rules, coverage, assumptions and confidence remain visible so a headline number never hides weak evidence.
Completeness
Are the critical values present when the business process needs them?
Null, blank and conditional-mandatory rates by critical field.Validity
Do values conform to the agreed format, range and business rule?
Rule pass rates, invalid values and exceptions by source.Uniqueness
Are duplicate records creating conflicting identities or transactions?
Exact and candidate duplicates, including the matching logic used.Consistency
Do systems, files and reports describe the same business fact consistently?
Cross-source mismatches, definition conflicts and reconciliation gaps.Timeliness
Is the data available and current when a decision or action occurs?
Age, latency, stale-record and late-arrival patterns.Integrity
Do required relationships remain intact across the process?
Orphans, broken references and unmatched business events.HOW THE SCORE WORKS
One number never stands alone.
Quality score — applicable rule results are weighted by the agreed business criticality of each data element and reported on a 0–100 scale.
Evidence confidence — High, Medium or Low reflects extract coverage, rule confirmation, sampling limits and validation by accountable owners.
Action priority — Fix now, Plan next, Monitor or Investigate combines observed failure, business impact, existing control and confidence.
96.6/ 100 RULE CONFORMANCE
- Observed
- 3.4% missing required project reference
- Consequence
- 21 high-value invoices require manual review
- Confidence
- High · rule and sample confirmed by Finance
- Priority
- FIX NOW
The smallest useful source pack.
No sensitive data should be sent before scope and handling arrangements are agreed. The Source Data Checklist helps identify what exists without uploading source content.
- An accountable sponsor and a clear business question
- A business owner who can validate the consequence of findings
- A data or system contact for each priority source
- Source structure, definitions and known business rules
- Examples of the visible issue and current workaround
- Agreed, representative extracts after handling approval
- Collect only fields and periods required for the scoped tests
- Mask or exclude direct identifiers where they are unnecessary
- Use an agreed transfer and access method before receipt
- Work from a controlled, read-only extract — never production writes
- Restrict access to the people required for the engagement
- Agree retention, return or secure disposal before profiling begins
Evidence leadership can use on day one.
Every output has a decision purpose, a stated owner and a direct relationship to the scoped business question.
Executive decision brief
The decision, headline findings, business impact, risk and recommended first move on one leadership-ready page.
DECIDE WHAT TO FIX FIRSTQuality scorecard
Scores by source, critical element and quality dimension, with rule definitions, evidence coverage and confidence stated.
MEASURE THE BASELINEPrioritised issue register
Material issues linked to affected processes, likely root cause, accountable owner, impact and practical treatment path.
CONNECT DATA TO IMPACT90-day action plan
A sequenced plan across quick wins, structural fixes, ownership, controls and the measures needed to prove improvement.
MOVE FROM FINDING TO ACTIONWhat the Quick Scan is — and what it is not.
Clear boundaries protect both the usefulness of the result and the organisation supplying the evidence.
01Is this a scan of our whole organisation?+
No. The Quick Scan is deliberately bounded around one important business decision or process and up to three priority sources. A narrow scope produces evidence that can be validated and acted on within two weeks.
02Do you change or cleanse our production data?+
No. The Quick Scan is diagnostic. It does not write to production systems or alter source records. Any remediation is separately scoped, approved and controlled after the findings are understood.
03How much data do you need?+
We agree the smallest representative extract that can test the priority question. The required period, fields and volume depend on the process, issue pattern and available controls; unnecessary data is excluded.
04Can spreadsheets and manual files be included?+
Yes. A priority source can be an application, database extract, CSV, spreadsheet or other structured file when it materially supports the scoped business decision.
05Is the score a certification of our data?+
No. It is a transparent, scoped baseline based on agreed rules and the evidence supplied. Coverage, assumptions and confidence are stated so the result is not presented as broader assurance than the scan supports.
06What happens after the scan?+
You receive a prioritised 90-day plan. The next move may be a targeted cleansing activity, ownership and control improvement, migration preparation or simply monitoring where current performance is already acceptable.
START WITH ONE DECISION THAT MATTERS
Book your Quick Scan ↗