Efective data governance management provides oversight, ensures stakeholder collaboration, and facilitates decisions for critical data subject areas. Data governance management addresses three basic data governance functions supporting the organi- zation’s data assets: building, sustaining, and compliance. Building is the creation of new capabilities through the new or enhanced governance structures; sustaining consists of the processes for collaboration, evaluation, and decision making; and compliance is instituted and managed to control data assets.
The data governance structure is designed to correlate with the organizational hierarchy and its culture. Key functions for data governance include the following:
- Approve the enterprise data strategy, policies, and standards Define business terms by subject area
- Assign accountabilities and responsibilities
- Develop decision rights and change mechanisms
- Address regulatory and other external requirements, data security, and access
- Enforce compliance
Data governance is customized to best address these functions for the organization.
For example, an executive governance body may be charged with oversight for
the interconnections that must be established among business, technology, and operations regarding the data assets within scope. A committee of data stewards may be created to oversee subject areas, define priorities, and minimize conflicts. Data working groups may be formed to develop the metrics and milestones for the data management program. Tactical work groups may be formed from, or at the direction of, governance bodies to perform a variety of tasks, such as to assure the quality of critical data attributes, to perform business analysis, to interface with information architects, and to triage and resolve business challenges with data.
The data governance function may begin by focusing on a small set of business domains, but it typically expands over time to include additional subject areas and responsibilities. Master data governance is often an initial focus for developing an overall enterprise data governance capability, as it requires collaboration from multiple business areas. To implement governance successfully, the organization needs to develop a deployment plan to ensure that governance, program funding, and data management oversight will be rolled out smoothly in the business environment. Key factors for a successful implementation of data governance include the following:
- An approved governance charter(s)
- Executive oversight, governance policies, and objectives
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
- Well-designed supporting processes, such as issue resolution, change management, etc.