Program funding processes enable sustainable financial support, based on overall benefits and costs. In addition, they define the allocation method for distributing costs among business sponsors and projects, and facilitate stakeholder alignment on data management funding. Program funding defines the framework used to evaluate and prioritize business cases (e.g., total cost of ownership, total lifecycle cost, return on investment) for determining and approving the required financing to sustain data management.
Program funding must be developed to address requirements from lines of business, IT, data management function, etc., and communicated to and approved by data governance to assure oversight and accountability. A well-structured funding approach can help to foster collaboration and facilitate agreements among stake- holders.
The organization should consider the advantages of designating a core set of functions for sustained funding, even if an organization-wide data management program is not in place. Data management is often funded as a series of projects, which can be detrimental as there can be discontinuity. For example, an organization may undertake a data quality pilot project to improve a data set and aid in method development, tool selection, and defining processes for reuse. If the ongoing activities resulting from this project are not funded as a part of the ongoing data management program, the organization will miss the opportunity to extend data quality best practices to other data stores and lines of business. Just as an organization will always need human resources and finance, it will always need to manage its data assets, regardless of changes in strategy or leadership.
The specific model that is implemented to facilitate program funding will depend on the preferred approach of the organization. Program funding addresses the following: investment criteria and priorities, budget management, benefits delivered versus expected, ongoing management, and allocation method. An organization should expect its program funding method to evolve as the maturity of its data management program evolves.