Data Governance

There are many definitions for data governance in the marketplace. Simply put, however, we believe that Data Governance is the formal and informal process of managing data within an organization. That’s it. Whatever we do to control our data – good or bad – is Data Governance. There are many aspects to a successful Data Governance program. These vary from organization to organization. In all cases, however, data governance is concerned with Policy, Procedure and Audit. Other subjects that can fall under the scope of data governance include Data Architecture, Master Data Management, Master Data Maintenance, Data Security, Data Quality, Business Intelligence, Electronic Document Retention, Data Migration and Integration (governance), Enterprise Reporting and Data Warehousing.

But the real question is, “Why?” Why create a formal program for managing our data? To answer the question, we must realize that, at the core of Data Governance is a process. Processes provide both consistency and repeatability. Without a data governance process our data quality is not sustainable and quickly degrades. Data quality can be controlled, to a degree, when it is first created. However, the relevance and accuracy of that data often decays over time due to changes in our business, acquisitions and other factors affecting the rules associated with the data. Customers go out of business or move. Vendors change their product composition. Corporate growth can force new rules and regulations on us that require adapting quickly to avoid costly penalties.

If ungoverned, all of these changes will quickly cause the information we own to become obsolete, undermining the fundamental value data provides to the organization – TRUST. When we trust our data, we create the foundations for success:

• STABILITY
• COMPLIANCE
• PERFORMANCE

Trust – without trust, we have chaos. Every decision we make is based on data. If our data isn’t trustworthy, how confident can we be in our ability to make decisions?

Stability is the ability of an object to maintain equilibrium after displacement. Accurate, consistent data enables consistent processes, which, in turn, ensures business stability. Our ability to react to change is based primarily in our data and the processes by which it is maintained.

Compliance is conforming to rules, specifications and/or standards and policies. Implementing Data Governance starts with Policies, standards, rules and definitions followed by processes to enforce, automate and monitor them.

Performance: Ultimately, Data Governance can drive significant benefit to the organization:

• Decreased costs
• Decreased time & effort
• Decreased risk of compliance failures
• Increased trust in corporate data
• Improved decision support capabilities
• Better organizational collaboration