Ten things Nomad Data has learned after two years helping firms track their data vendor relationships

Nomad Data is approaching the two-year anniversary of launching our Data Relationship Manager (DRM), a milestone that provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the critical insights we've gathered by working closely with our clients. Over the past two years, we've gained invaluable perspectives on the challenges firms face when managing their increasingly complex data vendor relationships.

In today's data-driven world, effectively managing data vendors and datasets has become crucial, yet many organizations struggle with this task. The consequences of poor data management are severe: operational inefficiencies, unnecessary spending, and missed opportunities for leveraging valuable insights.

Here’s what we've learned:

1. Most tested data never gets purchased

One of the most surprising insights we uncovered is the extent to which data tested by firms never actually gets purchased. This pattern is far different from other types of products that business purchase. Often, the lack of proper record-keeping results in the same datasets being retested multiple times by different departments. This redundancy drains resources and slows down innovation. Implementing structured record-keeping and clear tracking systems, such as the ones provided by the DRM, significantly reduces wasteful retesting.

2. Double purchasing and redundant spending is rampant

A particularly troubling insight we've identified is the prevalence of double purchasing. Firms often unknowingly purchase identical or near-identical datasets multiple times due to the lack of centralized oversight. DRM solves this by tracking all dataset purchases and clearly highlighting overlaps, thus preventing unnecessary expenditures.

3. Data purchases involve a multitude of stakeholders and most firms struggle to track the status of purchases in the process

Acquiring data isn't as simple as signing a contract; it's a multifaceted process involving numerous stakeholders across procurement, engineering, legal, compliance, and InfoSec teams. Each department has its own set of requirements and timelines. Without centralized visibility, processes become fragmented, stalled, or completely derailed. The DRM emphasizes clear visibility across these groups, making it easier for teams to stay aligned and keep data acquisition processes efficient. Offline processes like data testing and legal review can be systematized in Workflows, ensuring governance standards are met and documentation is preserved while automatically keeping processes flowing.

4. Missing key contract dates is costly

Many organizations frequently miss critical dates associated with data vendor contracts, including renewal deadlines, opt-out windows, and internal compliance checks. Missing these dates can lead to automatic renewals of unused data services, unexpected costs, and compliance headaches. Through the DRM’s centralized tracking and alerting mechanisms, organizations can proactively manage contracts, ensuring key dates and deadlines are never overlooked.

5. Navigating evolving data delivery methods is complex

As data platforms like AWS, Databricks, Snowflake and others continuously integrate new data vendors and offerings, tracking what data is available on which platform quickly becomes overwhelming. Without a robust management system, organizations find themselves repeatedly purchasing similar or identical datasets from multiple sources. The DRM provides organizations with comprehensive visibility into available datasets across platforms, preventing redundant spending and simplifying the acquisition process.

6. Lack of historical context hurts efficiency

Many organizations struggle to keep track of their historical interactions with vendors. Critical details like contract revisions, pricing adjustments, compliance issues, and past negotiations often get lost, forcing teams to start from scratch each time. The DRM’s historical tracking provides immediate context, allowing new stakeholders to quickly get up to speed on all prior communications and documentation, preserving institutional knowledge and drastically increasing operational efficiency.

7. Limited awareness of data utilization and impact

A common blind spot for organizations is understanding who within the firm uses purchased data, for what purposes, and the value derived from it. Without insights into data utilization, firms continue spending resources on datasets with questionable value. The DRM gives visibility into data usage and derived value, helping organizations make smarter investment decisions and better manage their data budgets.

8. Data discovery is overly complicated

Employees frequently struggle to identify data already available within their organization or to find new datasets that solve specific challenges. This lack of discoverability hinders innovation and leads to duplicate purchases or problems left unsolved. The DRM addresses this by providing an intuitive interface and access to internal data experts, allowing employees to quickly identify existing resources and explore additional datasets tailored to their specific needs.

9. Breaking down data silos is critical

Data knowledge within organizations tends to become heavily siloed, creating barriers that lead to repeated mistakes, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities for innovation. The absence of shared knowledge around datasets and vendors means employees regularly waste time re-learning lessons previously understood by other teams. The DRM bridges these silos by centralizing data-related knowledge and making it readily accessible to everyone within the organization.

10. Effective vendor relationship management enhances negotiations

We've found that organizations that proactively manage their vendor relationships often have significant leverage during negotiations. By consistently tracking interactions, derived value, and market trends, firms can negotiate better pricing, more favorable terms, and additional services from vendors. The DRM enables companies to quickly get up to speed on their entire relationship with a vendor, from contract negotiations to pricing and feature changes over time.

Looking Forward

These insights have significantly shaped our vision at Nomad Data. Understanding these common pain points, we've designed the DRM to offer comprehensive solutions that streamline vendor management, enhance visibility, and optimize resource allocation.

As we celebrate our two-year milestone, we remain committed to helping organizations transform their data management practices, empowering them to maximize the value of their data investments. Moving forward, we'll continue incorporating more artificial intelligence and automation into the platform to help it more seamlessly fit into our clients’ existing workflows.