In the new world of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), organizations that process or store information on EU Data Subjects must comply with new uniform data privacy requirements. Did you know that GDPR requires all information you hold to be centralized? In this article we focus on centralized data, the looming challenges we face, and the solutions to them.

Many research departments and companies struggle to keep all of their data in one central location. Beyond this challenge, there is the fact that sometimes the only way to accomplish project tasks is to use different software packages – each requiring specific and unique skills to manage them.

For example, companies might have information like panelist data residing in one software package, while the ability to collect data from those panelists is performed in a completely different package.

When you add the challenges of securely storing Personal Individual Information (PII), tracking participation, managing incentives and sharing data, an organization could be using three, four or five separate software platforms.

As if that weren’t problem enough, there is one more challenge – increasing industry and government regulations like GDPR are now requiring any information that you hold to be centralized. With all of the disparate software required to complete your projects, the challenges can seem daunting.

What steps can you take to mitigate some of these challenges?

Find a single software platform that covers most, if not all, requirements to meet not only industry and government regulations, but also to streamline internal processes. By unifying on one platform, you will save time, costs and resources related to a number of the challenges mentioned previously.

Arm yourself with the proper questions to ask any software provider. Here are some must ask questions:

• Is all of the collected data stored in a secure and centralized database?
• Does the data have the ability to be searched and shared across different tasks? For instance, can data collected via a questionnaire automatically update in the specific panelist record?
• Are all panelist data, PII, participation data, incentives and questionnaire responses stored in a central location?
• Can the software track how data was collected or changed within the database?
• Can the software produce information for auditing purposes to assure regulation compliance?

These are just a few of the many questions to be asked when evaluating a software platform. By contacting a representative at Marketing Systems Group, we can partner to identify the specific areas that most need shoring up in your organization.

Our team can also assist in formulating the many questions to investigate while searching for the best software platform for your company. Let the experts at Marketing System Group help you navigate the difficult and ever changing regulation landscape.