Data governance touches nearly all areas and people in an organization, and in that way, it’s unlike other capabilities that are more targeted—like business intelligence. But that means it also requires buy-in from various teams to really work.
Paola Saibene, principal consultant at Resultant, and Angela Jenkins, SVP of operational risk management at American National Bank of Texas, have laid out their top 10 ways to set up a data governance strategy for success.
Here’s part one of our guide:
1. Data governance is an absolute necessity for all organizations, but before you dig in, you still need to ensure your data governance initiatives have a compelling business case (regardless of whether you are in the private, non-profit, or public sector).
How this helps:
Prioritizes employees’ time, which is especially important when various teams must maintain focus on other aspects of the organization
Communicates the value of data governance and translates that into ROI
Builds sustainability in focus and investment
2. Elevate your organization’s data literacy bar through data governance practices to make your workforce and your organization more competitive and more easily driven toward excellence.
How this helps:
Significantly lowers the risk of costly and dangerous digital mishaps related to data quality, data security, data privacy, etc.
Builds the digital skills of today and the future, creating overall satisfaction for employees as they learn the highest standards in treating data and become more marketable in the future
3. Appropriately manage capital investments for data governance.
How this helps:
Reduces value drift, drives momentum and focus through investment in organizational culture, and equips teams to master data governance aspects impacting their daily work
Provides solid ROI by allocating governance components across the organization, from project and program management to contract and vendor management
4. Ensure your compliance management is properly focused to take advantage of data governance initiatives.
How this helps:
Reduces duplicative efforts that lead to exhaustion and fatigue for stewards
Right-sizing data governance activities to balance compliance needs achieves double the outcome with a single stroke of action
5. Match the effort to the outcome—ensure your change management component is up to par.
How this helps:
Avoids long, drawn-out committee activities and council oversight that bring minimal ROI to the initiative
Properly conveys how data governance will be rated and valued
Watch the interview
Check out part one below:
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About the Author
Paola Saibene
Principal Consultant @ Resultant
Paola came to Resultant with 25 years of experience as an IT practitioner and five years experience as a consultant.
Her work in the public sector includes state oversight of 32 executive branches,...
