Using the Data Roadmap: Data Governance


We have spent the last month going into significant detail showing you why you need a data strategy and how to document your strategy with a roadmap.  For the next few weeks we will start using that roadmap to move your organization towards your business objectives.

Our first stop will be your data governance plan.  Why is this the first place to stop?  To be honest it may not be.  There is a lot of overlap with future steps including picking the correct software, team members, and third party vendors that to help you implement the entire strategy so it does make sense to have the data governance process underway as early as possible.  The truth may not be that practical though.  Not every organization is ready to push through a true data governance plan.  And yes this will be a push.  No organization likes it when someone tells them they are doing something wrong especially if that someone is a teammate.  That is what data governance does so expect push back.  Another limiting factor is going to be your management.  If they are not willing to support you and make the business conform success in this area will not happen as quickly.  

If your organization is in a place to have open communication about data governance and the disruption that it will cause then you can also start talking about what your organization will get out of a data governance plan. 

  1. Improved data quality and consistency. A data governance plan helps to ensure that data is collected, stored, and used in a consistent manner. This can lead to improvements in data quality, which can in turn lead to better decision-making.
  2. Increased data security. A data governance plan can help to protect data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. This can help to reduce the risk of data breaches and other security incidents.
  3. Enhanced compliance. A data governance plan can help organizations to comply with a variety of data protection and privacy laws and regulations.
  4. Improved communication and collaboration. A data governance plan can help to improve communication and collaboration between different departments and teams within an organization. This can lead to better decision-making and improved efficiency.
  5. Increased trust in data. A data governance plan can help to increase trust in data by ensuring that it is accurate, reliable, and secure. This can lead to better decision-making and improved performance.

So your organization is ready to go down the data governance path and you all know why you are doing it.  In this case what are the steps that you need to take?

  1. Assess your current state. This includes identifying your data sources, data quality, and data security practices.  There is an overall "Identify your sources" step in the data roadmap that this will feed directly into. When you chose to start with data quality on your roadmap you will take care of both tasks at once.
  2. Define your business goals. What do you want to achieve with your data governance plan? These goals are a subset of your overall business objectives that focus on cleaning and managing data.  For example if the business objective is "Retain customers" then a data quality goal could be "Ensure that all customer details are correct and are secure enough to be used in any customer facing application".  This refined goal enhances the business objective.
  3. Identify your data needs. What data does your organization need to achieve its business goals? This includes identifying the data that is currently available, as well as the data that needs to be collected or acquired.
  4. Develop a data governance framework. A data governance framework is a set of principles and guidelines that will inform the development of your data governance policies and procedures.  These policies will govern security and SLA's for cleansed data. 
  5. Develop data governance policies and procedures. Once you have developed a data governance framework, you need to develop specific policies and procedures that outline how your organization will manage its data.  This can be considered how you apply the data framework to your data and business processes.  
  6. Implement your data governance plan. Once you have developed your data governance policies and procedures, you need to implement them throughout the organization.  This will take a solid team and a decision regarding tools.  This is another reason to start data governance early in the roadmap
  7. Monitor and measure your progress. It is important to monitor and measure your progress in implementing your data governance plan. This will help you to identify any areas where adjustments may be needed.  This is yet another reason to start early with data governance because your overall roadmap also needs to be focused on communication.  
Your data governance plan will be one of the main pillars of your data strategy.  You should start it early in the process and let it form a solid foundation for the rest of your plan.  Working through this plan will show your business stakeholders how committed to them and to open communication you will be through the rest of the strategy.  It is a practical way to open communication because you will have live examples that the business can relate to.  Further down the roadmap when you have to start communicating more about theoretical things having that communication channel well established will pay off.  So do not be afraid of your data governance plan, embrace it right from the start.

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