You do not have to be an FBI agent to keep your records secure. As a business owner, you want to ensure that everything that comes and goes into your systems are well protected, kept and stored. Data governance these days mean more than just a room full of file cabinets and thick folders. As we continue to move to a more paperless environment, we rely less on paper and hard copies of documents to a more streamlined, computerized and technology based system.
While data governance has shifted from hard copy to software, you should realize that the automated processes will not be sustained on its own. This kind of data management still needs a point of contact to be held accountable to the accuracy and security of the records you keep. Aside from that, you also want to be sure that all pertinent information can easily be shared with all employees when needed. This may not be a huge problem to small and medium sized businesses, but as your company starts to grow and you start to employ more staff, the records may grow to an extent that managing paper trails may not be the most efficient way to do business.
Since we have been working towards data governance for maximum efficiency, another advantage of being able to implement data management strategies would be the prevention of fraud. This is especially true for any type of company. Managing financial records and information is not limited to sales or banking organizations. Nothing can be worse than losing important financial or accounting information, and if not managed properly, you can end up losing hundreds to thousands of dollars in an instant. Being able to secure your company’s records will play a critical role to your company. The sooner you are able to implement data governance processes, the more time you can devote to other things that will make your business successful.
A Data Governance team banks on its credibility to effectively handle data and ensure that the quality of data is flawless. These responsibilities aren’t easy to perform, hence the need to make use of Data Stewards. Data come from many sources – in the form of internal and external customers as well as 3rd party vendors and providers. The amount of data gathered from all of these sources can very quickly become overwhelming. This is where the role of the Data Stewards come into play. Data Stewards are usually people that assume collateral duties of managing data in addition to their other roles (which could be doing any other types of tasks anywhere in the enterprise).
In some cases, the Data Stewardship group within an organization is composed of the Data Stakeholders themselves. These Data Stewards ensure that data-related decisions are carried out in a way that doesn’t conflict with another person or entity within the organization. Aside from technical skills, a Data Steward should also have a clear, crisp way of communicating issues and ideas and will be responsible for ensuring that any ambiguities in the data are removed.
Responsibilities of a Data Steward include:
- Data Stewards must see to it that the data being carried out doesn’t overlap any existing, contradicting data within the organization
- Data Stewards are always on the look out for possible errors in the structure.
- Data Stewards must help ensure that the data is error-free.
- Data warehousing is one of the key roles of a Data Steward.
- Data Stewards ensure consistency of data. They maybe one level below the Data Governance board, but these stewards also play a big role in data decision-making.
In a large enterprise, it is not sufficient that a single Data Steward is employed. It usually takes a team of experts in their respective fields to come up with a successful Data Stewardship council.
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