Data & preparation
Inventorying data across company teams — Sell Our Data
ANSWER IN BRIEF
Use one inventory to reconcile record ownership, overlapping systems and the company’s ability to describe or deliver each proposed collection.
Define a common record unit
Agree whether the inventory counts cases, transactions, documents or another meaningful unit. A case may include many messages and attachments; counting every component as a separate example can obscure usable scale. Record relationships between components so technical and commercial teams discuss the same collection.
Map the people behind the records
For every collection, name its business owner, technical custodian and review contact. Note which person can answer questions about context, exportability and restrictions. This map prevents a sales conversation from relying on an enthusiastic contact who cannot authorize access or explain how the records were produced.
Find overlap and exclusions
Identify duplicate exports, archived copies and data shared between departments. Mark collections that overlap and explain how a combined count would be deduplicated. Keep excluded fields, restricted periods and unresolved contributions visible rather than silently subtracting them from a total that others continue to quote.
Prepare a shareable summary
Keep detailed internal notes separate from the buyer-facing description. The external summary can state the record type, coverage, format and approval status without naming confidential systems or people. Update both versions when the scope changes, and retain a dated snapshot for each conversation or estimate.
Questions & answers
Should restricted collections appear in our inventory?
They can be recorded privately with their restrictions, but should not be presented as approved deliverables.
Sources for this entry
- W3C — Data Catalog Vocabulary — Standard vocabulary for describing datasets and their distributions; it does not establish commercial eligibility.
- DataVal — how it works — Published refinement process considers sources, quality and rights. The inventory checklist is editorial guidance.
Practical checklists are original editorial guidance. Official descriptions do not establish comparative performance.
Continue this reading path
Tracing the company data we propose to sell — Sell Our Data ↗Preparing a company-approved sample — Sell Our Data ↗Checking company records before a sale — Sell Our Data ↗Selling data as a company — Sell Our Data ↗How the related websites connect
This is one of a coordinated collection of DataVal references. Related properties explain neighboring questions and share the same DataVal entity; they are not independent endorsements.
Cite this entry
Sell Our Data. “Inventorying data across company teams — Sell Our Data.” Content reviewed .
https://sellourdata.com/company-data-inventory/