WHO ARE THE PEOPLE BEHIND DATA GOVERNANCE?

Data Governance is all about accumulating, gathering, storing and integrating raw customer data and making this information available when needed.  The people who are behind this process are called “Data Stakeholders” and they are composed of a mixed line-up of people from various departments in an enterprise – some coming from IT, Marketing, Human Resources, etc.

WHAT IS DATA GOVERNANCE AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Data Governance is the discipline used by companies to ensure that accuracy, consistency and flow of data are stream-lined depending on the focus of the business.  The use of Data Governance ensures a smooth collection and dissemination of data information that are of quality, thereby solidifying the company’s integrity.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO MAKE USE OF FORMAL DATA GOVERNANCE?

The local data management of an enterprise can only take you so far. When there is more data that needs to be managed than is practical for ad-hoc management, the best bet is to implement the use of a formal Data Governance initiative.  Here are situations that call for such big transition:

1. When there is a bigger volume of data that needs to be spread out within an organization.
2. When the local data management system is so primordial that it cannot efficiently store and show data when needed.  Formal Data Governance uses a more sophisticated system to ensure the quality of data being used in the enterprise.
3. The Data Architects in the organization needs to look at the enterprise from a macro-perspective in order to understand how data should be managed.
4. A compliance system is needed to manage risk, legal obligations, or other regulations.

WHAT DEPARTMENTS ARE INVOLVED IN DATA GOVERNANCE?

Data Governance is mostly seen on a larger scale than most programs in an organization.  Its participants vary, but these resources generally represent IT, Human Capital, Marketing and Finance and Operations and Management.  It looks at information from a global scale and inputs from people from these departments are highly valued and taken into consideration.

WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR DATA GOVERNANCE?

Most companies create an elaborate Data Management System because it is important that different methods and procedures are aligned with this set-up.  Data Governance guarantees that information is properly carried out within an enterprise.  In doing so, data is disseminated to the right people at the time it is needed and, in return, makes the whole process efficient and cost-effective. Data Governance is generally a win-win situation for companies that choose to integrate it into their system.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT DATA GOVERNANCE FROM THE GROUND UP?

Do you notice how most companies develop a mission/vision statement? The same holds true for Data Governance. In order to fully maximize its use, the program manager needs to sit down with its people first and talk about where they want to be heading and what areas or key drivers they want to put focus on.  Identifying these things will help keep the program organized and will help steer it into the direction that executive management ultimately wants it to go in.

HOW MUCH DATA GOVERNANCE DO WE NEED?

It is extremely helpful to incorporate data governance when the data is not yet complex. This is usually a utopian-like thought, however, because most organizations have very complex data before they ever begin thinking about introducing data governance.

If you do start early, however, it becomes very easy to scale the program;  just add data as the need arises and put more structure into the program.  In order for data governance to work cohesively, departments should make use of common variables and terminologies and use them correctly and efficiently at all times.  It is wise to use it in a localized setting but with a global mindset.

WHAT KEY AREAS DO WE NEED TO PUT FOCUS ON WHEN IMPLEMENTING DATA GOVERNANCE?

We have been stressing that Data Governance is all about the accuracy and effectiveness of data accumulation and dissemination, hence, people who implement it should have the ability to communicate their thoughts effectively – both in action and in writing.  They need to be able to translate complex issues in a way that will be easily understood no matter which line of business utilizes the information.  The people behind Data Governance should have the ability to create, influence and assertively implement the data framework within the enterprise.

Proper training, effective training articles and materials can help the Data Governance team stay up to date in the ever-changing world of data management.

In order to make these processes efficient and effective, there are a number of best practices that an enterprise can incorporate. Please note that this is not the end-all and be-all of Data Governance practices but it is informative and educational enough to apply to your own organization.  You have to remember that the concept of Data Governance is the same for all, it is only the system and how the data is needed by the various departments that changes depending on the enterprise.

• There should be transparency of goals within the organization. Each representative must be able to identify how the data can affect their department.
• Goals should be achievable, measurable and quantifiable
• A solid reporting system should be made; intervals on when these reports need to be generated should also be identified
• Proper education and authority should be assigned to everyone involved
• There should be a clear cut process of escalating data updates/disputes/variances
• There should be a clear work-around time for when these data updates/disputes/variances will be worked on
• People who will carry on Data Governance tasks should be broken down so that they can be easily identified as to who will do what
• There should be a regular touch-up on Data Governance so that the people are updated of new processes/systems
• Proper training needs to be given on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly, yearly, depending on the organization)
• There should be a set of individuals from the Data Governance team that will regularly attend enterprise meetings to ensure that Data Governance goals are aligned with the goals of the organization as a whole
• Metadata structure should be given importance and this provides key understanding of how data should be used
• Good governance metrics should be put in place and good governance output should be properly recognized
• There should be an executive responsible for monitoring and measuring the success of Data Governance

The key I got out of this presentation is to center everything around the benefits. Talk about a powerful position you put yourself in when you can talk to the executives in terms of how much revenue you are responsible for! His tips are to have a team that has analytical skills, finance and accounting skills, tech skills, etc. Make sure their talents are diverse. He said that anybody can learn the needed technical stuff (he has a management, not data, background), so focus on building a team that is competent and well-rounded.


In an interesting side note, Avaya was recently purchased by two private equity firms for $8.2 Billion. In one of my recent data governance article roundups I posted an article by Philip Howard that stressed that a company looking to be acquired should really have their data management under control. Who knows if data played a role in this acquisition, but as you can tell from my writeup, Avaya really does have theirs under control.

- Have a straightforward vision, theirs is: “Elevate Data to Enterprise Intelligence”. His goal was to be the brain of the organization through data quality.

- Achieve Data Governance through the creation and storage of the critical business rules (1) Define business rules (2) Provide global visibility of data quality to whole organization at all levels

- Data Governance exists in every organization (creating rules, defining rules, etc…) whether they know it or not. What many do not have is a formalized process – what we really think of when we think data gov


- Logo is important – when people see it on documents they automatically know its from his team. I wrote an article a while back that talked about the importance of branding your data governance program.

- Develop value drivers that are important to your organization, not “BS”. It doesn’t have to be what you read in magazines, books, or hear at presentations, it should be what matters to your organization. Ideas: Improve time to market, Have better decision making…

- Use the vocab your organization understands. At Nestle, the CEO and management signed a document six years ago that they would do Data Ownership. The industry now prefers data stewardship (because of data my-ning). He decided to stick with ownership because that is what works in his organization.

- Tools are helpful. You can achieve big things with small (or no) tools, but they really do help

- Put your metrics in positive terms. For example, say “80% of a data field is correct” rather than “20% of a field is incorrect”.

- He didn’t create the data governance/quality organization, he just formalized what already existed

- Proposed adding a Q in ETL (Extract, Transfer, Load). At Nestle it is ETQL – Extract, Transfer, Quality Check, Load

One of the key statements to have in your document is that no changes to a field can take place without the approval of the Data Governance Office (who will bring it before the council). We’ve had to wield that line many times and it has always helped to say, “the Data Governance Policy Document states that a field cannot be used in a new way without the approval of the DGO”. When your program is still new issues will come up that you’ll have to resolve, and referring to policy is a very powerful thing. People respect the word policy.


You can also add another line that any new fields that are being created must first be approved by the DGO, but make sure that you analyze the volume of new field requests so that you can handle the capacity once they start coming your way. The key to creating this document is to put policies in place about the issues that are most important to your council. Is it important to you that people don’t reuse deprecated fields for other purposes? Make it a policy that they cannot do that. Think about your scope, your council needs, and your charter as you create this document – the most important issues to each of these groups should spawn valuable policy.

Oh, and by the way, this is a living and breathing document – don’t be afraid to amend it as new issues come up that need to be controlled in the future. Heck… they have amended the Constitution…

Paper Based Info Systems

Bring your paper based information systems into the digital world. Document Management can provide access controls, indexing improving security and speed of access amongst other significant business benefits.

Think you’d have to be Nostradamus to do that? Keep reading for 3 ways to be proactive in enfocing data governance policies.


1. SDLC
Does your company have a PMO? Do they have a standard way of initiating a project? If so, you absolutely must inject your program into this. A best practice we have found is to add some key questions to the project initiation questionaire that triggers an email to us if they are answered in a way that requires the Data Governance Office to take a look. Obviously not every organization will have an online project initiation questionairre, but if you do – this is a highly effective way to be notified of any projects that plan to use data fields in a new way, create new fields, or make changes that the DGO should be aware of.

2. Data Modelers
This is a sneaky yet effective way to catch changes. For database changes, the data modelers must always be involved. If a change has gotten past you through injecting your program into the SDLC, the data modelers can be very effective allies who can tip you off of proposed changes. I’ve written before about how the data modelers can help you, and this is yet another reason that you should be working closely with them. Its also important to ensure that they understand and have bought into the data governance program.


3. Turn everyone into a Sleuth
This stems back to the fact that you should announce your program when it is initiated and get some internal publicity and visibilty. Using this visibility, include some statements and quotes that give the idea that data misuse should be sent on to the DGO for review.

There you have it.  These aren’t necessarily groundbreaking, but if you put them in place you’ll have a better overall governance program that is both proactive and reactive.

2. Now, put your answers in the left side of a chart with 5 columns. Each answer should be in its own row.

3. Across the top of the last four columns, title them “IT Worker”, “IT Exec”, “Biz Worker”, “Biz Exec”.

4. You probably know what to do now. Rewrite your elevator speech in the columns to the right of them, but this time tailor the message to the specific audience that the column pertains to.

AD:  Data management disciplines can be applied to include the digital image of paper based information. This unified approach between managing digital and paper based assets can improve access control, provide an improved audit trail, and reduce the operational costs traditionally associated with managing paper archives.

5. Once you have done that for all of your messages swoop back to your first column and title it “Mixed Audience”. Go back down that column, and rewrite your original elevator speeches so that they are targeted towards a mixed audience of IT and Business workers and Execs.

6.  Use these!

I hope that helps!

It is generally pretty easy to get in as the communications department is always looking for good content to fill out their publication. What I do is just check who the newsletter is coming from and shoot an email over to them letting them know you are trying to spread the word about your new Data Governance Program that is going to “greatly improve the quality and value of the data at [insert your company name here].” They are usually more than happy to include your program in the next communication. Read on for how to frame your story for best impact…


You can get your message across in a couple of ways… You could do a Q&A where you write the questions and the answers. Remember good journalism here and cover the Who, What, When, Where, and Why first. You could also do a FAQ, or display a ‘rollout plan’ on how the program will be affecting different groups and at what points in time. The most important thing, though, is to get the value of the program across so that readers are interested in the program, not scared of the additional ‘overhead’. Be cognizant of this and frame your story around the value.

In doing this, you are ensuring that your message is spread company wide, and from the bottom up. People will recognize Data Governance as a program, and don’t be surprised if people come to you for data related issues that they’ve been aware of for years!

Additionally, you may want to have a comment field for discussions that took place around this data field (not part of the metadata description, but in a separate area) and you’ll definitely want to have a place where you can indicate where the field currently is on your data maturity model.

One thing that we didn’t do, which I now regret, is to have a ‘date last reviewed’ area for a data element. This would certainly help as I’d quickly know when this particular field last came before the council. Since I don’t have this, I have to rely on a combination of memory and a review of my meeting minutes, notes, and website to find that date.