Congratulations! You’ve been named the Data Governance Leader…Now What?

You’ve just been named the Data Governance Leader. As the Data Governance Leader, you must ensure data and analytics assets are well-governed to enable and prioritize the business strategy. Your first objective is to create a data governance program, but you have limited time, budget, and resources. You need a plan to help accelerate time to value for a Data Governance program to meet the enterprise initiatives while shortening the time to roll out. You could speak to a technology vendor to acquire software to address the problem? What is missing in this approach is the basic content needed to document the who, what, where, when, and how of the program. Data governance programs require a road-map, a plan, an organization model, and executive sponsorship. The business benefits are derived from consistent, common processes and responsibilities.

The Data Governance knowledge area defines a common set of governing concepts. These concepts are the basis for data governance functions used to develop the program.

According to the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK), most data governance programs include the following concepts:

  • Oversight – Ensure data governance functions are aligned with basic data governance principles
  • Strategy – Define and communicate how data governance supports the data strategy
  • Policy – Setting and enforcing data related policies such as access, usage, security, and quality
  • Standards – Setting and enforcing standards enforcing data quality levels
  • Stewardship – Observation, audit, and correction of data in accordance with policies and standards
  • Compliance – Ensuring organizations meet the regulatory compliance requirements for data
  • Issue Management – Identifying, defining, escalating, and resolving issues related to data
  • Data Asset Valuation – Set standards and processes to consistently define the business value of data assets.

Data Governance functions are what the Data Governance Authority manages on an ongoing basis that enables the data governance program. They can be subdivided into planning, control, and operational functions. Planning functions are a set of processes that determine a course of action to meet a goal. Control functions are a set of processes that ensure the ongoing quality of data. Operational functions are a set of processes that establish the parameters for engagement with data management.

Most data governance programs include the following basic functions:

  • Data Strategy Alignment
  • Metrics Management
  • Policy & Standards Management
  • Glossary & Metadata Management
  • Data Governance Operations Management

The data governance program must first be a data governance project before it becomes a data governance program. The project establishes the steps and the order build the program. The data governance deliverables are the output from the data governance project. The deliverables are required to operationalise the program.

Most Data Governance programs require the following data governance deliverables

  1. Standards & Policies
  2. Data governance processes
  3. Business glossary
  4. Data stewardship, owners & stakeholders RACI matrix
  5. Data Governance issues log
  6. Data governance scorecard
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As the new data leader, you must assimilate all this information and build the program. This will require time, budget and resources that are limited. What you need is a bridge between the technology and the content and knowledge required to maximize the benefits promised by the software vendor.

A system that incorporates all the requirements previously mentioned with template driven content needed to enable the data governance program would greatly facilitate the execution of your first objective as a data leader. This system is your Data Governance Management System (DGMS)

A DGMS allows organizations to put plans into action by aligning people, process and technology around core objectives. It guides them through the governance cycle using proven strategies that incorporate methodologies, governance process and specific resources into one cohesive system.

This resource comprises both guidelines as well as specific, policies, standards, and processes. It helps a governance authority monitor productivity and performance, ramp up new stewards and keep stakeholders informed when things change.

Alternatively, when governance teams have practical resources and ready-made content at their fingertips, they’re better equipped to engage in data stewardship with standards and repeatable processes.

For data leaders, a DGMS can be used to share knowledge with the entire team. For example, if a data steward discovers that a particular policy or process needs to be created or modified; they can add it to the DGMS ensuring it goes through the proper change management cycle.

A DGMS is an efficient way to deliver a data governance program while managing the limited time, budget, and resources that are always in short supply. Sandhill’s very own DGMS system provides these capabilities and meets the efficiency needs required by organisations. The process of governing data can be complicated, but with COMPASS a new cloud based Data Governance Management System, results can be achieved at reduced costs within a shorter time period.

Watch our COMPASS Webinar to see what COMPASS is all about and how it can help you here:

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