A meaningful Data Quality metric begins with the business requirement and intended use. Quality is fundamentally contextual: data is considered fit for purpose only relative to the activity, decision, report, or process that depends on it.
For example, a delivery address used for same-day logistics may require stricter timeliness and completeness thresholds than an address retained solely for historical analysis. Without understanding the business use, a numerical quality target becomes arbitrary.
The business requirement should identify what failure matters, which dimension applies, how quality will be measured, the acceptable threshold, who owns the requirement, and what response is expected when the threshold is missed.
DAMA-aligned public guidance follows this same logic by recommending that quality rules and dimensions be prioritized according to user needs and purpose.
Technology selection comes later. Profiling tools help measure data, but they cannot determine the business meaning of an acceptable result.
Governance and stewardship should approve the requirement, while Metadata Management should preserve the definition, rule, owner, and lineage.
Reference Topics: DAMA-DMBOK2 Chapter 13 — Define Data Quality Requirements; Fitness for Purpose; Metrics; Thresholds; Business Rules.
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