How to set up Corporate Data Governance

In today’s business world, the effective management of digital assets has become an inescapable concern. It’s in this context that data governance is emerging as the must-have solution for organizations handling large volumes of information. This strategy offers multiple benefits to companies in a variety of fields. For example, banking institutions can optimize the accuracy of financial information, while sales companies can improve the tracking of operations. Lemon Learning explains everything you need to know about data governance, from its implementation to the privileges it confers.

Understanding data governance

Data governance is the framework and procedures put in place within a company to ensure better control of digital information flows and storage centers. This applies to all phases of the data cycle, from collection to end use. In particular, this strategy aims to ensure compliance with legal obligations, as well as the methodology for setting up internal structures and processes to improve their management.

This management method is of key importance for companies, especially when large volumes of digital information are involved, as is the case with Big Data. For structures of this kind, going through this procedure is therefore a solution that will give a boost to business growth.

By ensuring the organization of vast quantities of internal and external data, and facilitating access to it, this governance strategy lays a solid foundation for innovation and sustainable development. Effectively managed information thus becomes a tactical resource that gives companies better benchmarks for detecting new opportunities, and adapting quickly to trends in their sector.

Effective data governance also plays an essential role in improving corporate decision-making. By guaranteeing the quality, accuracy, and reliability of digital information, it provides decision-makers with information they can rely on. Decisions based on reliable data are more informed and less likely to lead to costly errors. This translates into greater responsiveness to market changes, optimization of operational processes and enhanced ability to achieve strategic corporate objectives.

In a professional field marked by constant rivalry, this management method offers companies a significant competitive advantage. It’s particularly useful for structures taking their first steps in the business world, which need to distinguish themselves at all costs in order to secure a good customer base. With the right data governance strategy, any company can gain the ability to make decisions quickly and position itself better, whatever the state of the market. This approach offers an undeniable advantage for long-term success.

The foundations of Data Governance

Data governance rests on a number of pillars that make this strategy unique, and greatly influence its effectiveness. One of the first is accountability. To put the process in place, there needs to be people responsible for its implementation within the company. Set up and assign ownership and responsibility to a team, to ensure all stages of the process are properly organized.

Data administration is another fundamental pillar of this governance strategy. For the process to run smoothly, it is crucial to appoint a data administrator. This is the person who must lead the team during the process and ensure compliance with rules and regulations.

Data quality is also one of the main foundations of data governance, worthy of the name. To successfully implement this management method, the company must have information of absolute accuracy and reliability. This is essential for making informed decisions and adopting the right techniques to adapt to market trends. To meet this requirement, the project manager will have to define common standards to optimize the quality of the elements intended for analysis.

Last but not least, you will need total transparency to document each stage of the process. As a result, future audits will be able to easily trace the use of data, how it was managed and why it was used by the team.

Key steps in implementing Data Governance

The implementation of a successful data governance procedure follows certain precise steps.

Assessing needs and existing resources

The policies required to implement a data governance strategy may vary from one organization to another. The choice will largely depend on the company’s culture and the way it exploits its digital information. To know exactly which policies and methods to adopt, it is essential to determine the company’s needs and existing resources, so that the procedure can be adapted accordingly.

With this in mind, it is advisable to draw up an inventory of the data already available. This initial, detailed analysis will provide a clearer picture of the information that can be exploited, and will reveal what the company really needs. After this phase, you’ll know whether you need to improve the quality of your data, optimize its security or update its regulatory compliance. These are valuable leads that will facilitate the other phases of the process.

Developing the right strategy for your company

Using the results of the assessment as a benchmark, your company will need to develop a tailored data governance method. The procedure primarily includes setting objectives and taking actions to ensure their achievement within the appropriate timescales. The implementation of this tailored strategy should also involve policies to govern the collection, storage, management, and use of information. At this stage, we must also establish mechanisms and tools to control data quality and ensure compliance with established standards.

Setting up a governance team

The successful implementation of a data governance strategy is closely linked to the team in charge of the project. To maximize the procedure’s chances of success, the team must be made up of members with a variety of skills and a real understanding of the issues at stake. It is especially advisable to form a group made up of people from different departments within the company, mainly the IT, legal and sales units.

To implement this governance strategy effectively, the roles and responsibilities of each team member must be clearly defined. It is at this precise level that the person responsible for data governance will be appointed. This person must have the skills required to oversee the project and ensure that policies are effectively implemented.

You must also appoint :

• a data management executive
• data managers
• data stewards
• a data architect
• data curators

All these profiles assume specific roles and must complement each other to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Technologies and Tools for Data Governance

Because of the operation’s complexity and the numerous pieces of information to be considered, implementing a truly effective data governance strategy can be challenging for some organizations. Fortunately, many tools are available to simplify the process and greatly improve the chances of success.

Master Data Management (MDM) is at the top of the list of the most useful technologies for facilitating the implementation of a data governance strategy. This is a system designed to centralize and synchronize information between various applications. The metadata management system is also a great help in the process. It supports schemas, descriptions, validation rules and much more. Monitoring and analysis tools are also in place, responsible for thoroughly examining digital elements and process steps to swiftly detect and correct any errors.

Compliance tools are also a great help when it comes to applying the procedure. The main task of these cleverly devised systems is to check that the use of digital information complies with established laws and regulations. The list of technologies that help simplify the implementation of the procedure also includes data discovery tools. Their role is to identify existing digital information in the company’s storage spaces, making it easier to search and collect, and saving precious time.

These handy tools have the capacity to manage data from different storage points in record time. Among the spaces supported, we obviously include the cloud, which typically receives half of a company’s digital information for several years. But there are also other sources, such as social media, mobile platforms and so on.

Challenges and solutions in Data Governance

In the face of today’s privacy concerns, the implementation of a data governance strategy must go hand in hand with the application of strict policies. This is a necessary measure to ensure compliance with current standards and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and many other national laws.

The quality and integrity of digital elements also represent major challenges in the process. The phenomenal quantity of elements to be processed can lead to quick emergence of errors or inconsistencies, potentially seriously compromising the reliability of your data. To avoid this, organizations need to invest in a data quality management system to quickly identify and correct potential anomalies. Implementing such a process to control information during its analysis phase is crucial to guaranteeing its accuracy and, consequently, its effectiveness.

With regard to the solutions provided by data governance, it is important to emphasize the considerable benefits for business units. By emphasizing transparency and accountability, this strategy enables the companies involved to strengthen the trust of their customers. This in turn translates into maximized loyalty and a positive brand perception that further elevates the company in the marketplace.