What makes network data truly fit for purpose?

Most operators assume their data is “good enough” — until they try to plan a new rollout, migrate to a new platform, or respond to an auditor. Then the gaps start to show. 

Here’s what best-practice network data should look like — and what’s usually missing:

1. Accessibility Your data must be easily available to the right teams — planning, engineering, finance, and ops — not buried in PDFs, offline spreadsheets, or locked inside vendor portals. API-ready, searchable, and integrated.

2. Accuracy Your logical and physical records must reflect reality — not theory. Sites, devices, ports, circuits, IPs — clean, verified, and matched to the field.

3. Consistency No conflicting statuses or naming chaos. A “retired node” in one system shouldn’t be “live” in another.

4. Completeness All network elements and relationships should be documented: From sites and fibres to VLANs, services, and customers — active, passive, and metadata included.

5. Timeliness Data should reflect the current network — not how it looked six months ago. Updates should be near real-time or run on a defined change workflow.

6. Interoperability Data must flow across OSS, GIS, inventory, billing, and NMS. Standard formats (JSON, CSV, XML), clean exports/imports.

7. Security & Permissions Data must be accessible but controlled. Role-based views, auditable changes, and protection of sensitive info.

8. Contextuality Data is more useful when enriched. Status, vendor, customer links, dependencies — not just raw asset records.

9. Cleanliness No duplicates, no “TBD” fields, no ghost circuits.

10. Actionability Your data should help people do things — not just sit in a database. Plan, forecast, troubleshoot, report — with confidence.

If your teams struggle with any of the above, we’ve developed a practical, insight-led course that helps telcos clean, align, and take control of their network data.

“The Hidden Cost of Bad Network Data”

Enrolment open now. Send me a message on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Email or Call me to learn more.