According to this article, the Golden Gate Bridge is painted continuously year-round. That is, rather than painting the entire bridge once per year (or every couple of years), "painting the Bridge is an ongoing task and a primary maintenance job."

This, of course, reminds me of data management. Data management is not a "once a year" or "once every several years" type of task. (Or at least it should not be!) Like bridge painting, data management should be an ongoing task and a primary maintenance job.

Given data management is an ongoing task and a primary maintenance job, the questions you should ask yourself include:

• Do we have the right staff in place to actively manage the data?
• Do we have the right processes in place to ensure the data is as correct as it can be?
• Do we have the appropriate technology to assist us with keeping the data actively maintained?

Data management is never "one and done." Just like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, data management is an ongoing task. Make sure you have the tools in place to do that.