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Data governance encompasses many practices, including information security, master data management, and quality. It’s essential to start with clear goals and consistent communication between stakeholders.
Involve employees early to help them get excited about the program’s benefits. It’s also crucial to show them what they stand to gain — automated processes, a cohesive business, and improved data security.
Data Quality / Business Performance
A data governance framework helps organizations establish standardized business glossaries and data dictionaries, track information lineage, set property rules for new data inputs, and manage the creation, archiving, and usage of information. This process also ensures compliance, prevents security breaches, and allows users to access only the data they need for a given use case.
However, the key to successfully implementing a data governance program is to ensure that it’s focused on a clear purpose and aligned with business objectives. Ideally, the organization should identify a set of program objectives, create decision-making bodies, and define decision rights as it works towards building a solid data governance framework.
Poor data quality can lead to misguided decisions, reduced trust, and financial losses. To improve data quality, the business should include its employees in drafting governance procedures to be immediately adapted to real-world challenges and used for actionable insights. The immediate involvement of the business will also help to foster greater buy-in and awareness around data governance initiatives. Ultimately, a successful data governance program will enable companies to optimize their business processes and leverage the full potential of their information assets.
Security
Achieving data governance requires a clear picture of what you have and how to protect it. It’s the only way to ensure information security and compliance with industry regulations and data protection laws.
Typically, the role of data governance leader is assigned to the Chief Data Officer (CDO). It’s a key position within organizations that promotes the use of data to improve decision-making and business processes. They are also responsible for establishing and managing policies, roles, standards, and procedures.
A robust data governance model will provide a consistent and reliable set of trusted data entities shared across the organization. This will enable data scientists to trust and utilize the data they collect for analysis, increasing the likelihood of accurate takeaways from their efforts. For instance, a data governance office should establish and enforce policies on what channels will be used to gather data. This will help ensure sensitive information is only accessed by authorized employees and not leaked. It should also set up risk milestones to address potential issues during data sharing and migration.
Access
Data governance enables teams to use the full potential of their data. Management can gain insights and make strategic business decisions. Sales and marketing teams can trust their customer and product data to inform campaigns. Procurement and supply chain professionals can make better decisions about sourcing and inventory. Legal and compliance departments can ensure data is handled according to internal and external mandates.
A data governance framework is a set of policies, organizational role delegations, and processes that bring everyone on the same page. It helps to define the who, what, when, where, and how of your data.
A well-defined and implemented data governance program can deliver significant business benefits for organizations of all sizes. To achieve these benefits, your organization must define its vision and business case for launching a governance program. This should be followed by an actionable roadmap defining the people (roles), technologies, and processes needed to execute your data governance framework. This roadmap should also be based on assessing your data governance maturity model.
Transparency
The best data governance practices make sure everyone in the organization can see how and where the information comes from. This helps people trust the data they are relying on and makes it easier for them to understand and utilize.
This usually involves implementing rules to control how data is stored and used. It also includes documenting the location of different data sets, defining how to classify each stage, and setting up automated and human processes to enforce those rules.
It may also involve establishing a business glossary to create a common language for business data, which can help with understanding and communication of that data. Finally, training and communication programs are needed to familiarize users with the data governance policy framework, privacy mandates, and their role in helping to keep data sets consistent.
A well-defined and implemented governance program can support your strategic goals of becoming a more data-driven or data-informed organization while boosting customer engagement, improving decision-making, and optimizing performance. However, it’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all model for a governance program; you must tailor it to your unique needs, culture, and objectives.
Collaboration
Data governance is about creating policies, roles, processes, and standards to help everyone on your team use the right tools at the correct times. To accomplish this, you must create a collaborative environment where employees can access the data they need, know what that data means, and how to find it quickly and easily.
In addition, it’s essential to establish clear communication channels between teams so that the right people are involved in all aspects of your data governance efforts. This includes training sessions, emails, newsletters, and workshops where you can discuss what’s being accomplished and how to implement new initiatives best.
You’ll also need to identify a group of individuals who will carry your foundational data governance methods forward and be the internal face of your program. This team will be responsible for communicating, prioritizing, funding, and resolving conflicts. Typically, this will be an executive steering committee or a council of data stewards representing each department in your business. They can then act as advocates and influencers in the broader organization, helping other teams understand how to adopt and utilize your policies.