Modern research institutions have a growing data challenge, and a key step in addressing it is knowing what institutions hold. The ARDC-funded, Institutional Underpinnings Extension Project: RDM Business Intelligence and Reporting provides a case study on developing an approach to the systematic characterisation and reporting of research data properties to enable strategic decision-making. This project is closely related to the Institutional Underpinnings Extension Project: Retention and Disposal of Research Data, which has focused on the "end-of-life" challenge for research data (Final report: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10076891). The institutional underpinnings extension project was supported by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC). ARDC is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). The project was principally carried out by project partners: UNSW Sydney (Chief Investigator), The University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney, with support from the broader community in the Steering Committee, Working Group, Workshops, and Birds of a Feather session at the eResearch conference Australasia 2023.