Demystifying Data Governance: What, When, Where and Why
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 4:31 am
Learn what Data Governance is, how to implement it, and the tools needed for efficient management.
Data governance is today a fundamental element for the availability, integrity, usability and security of the data used in a company.
Although the objectives, motivations and appropriate technological tools for implementing a data governance program are specific to the needs of each organization, there is a set of similar aspects that run through all of them, which we will discuss below.
Companies with a data governance program report a 31% nurse database in confidence in data quality.
Source: Webincare
What is Data Governance?
Data governance is the system of decisions and responsibilities for information-related processes that describe who can take what actions, with what data and when, in what situations, and using what methods.
Data governance concerns anyone who has any interest in how data is created, processed, stored, and made available for use. Often these people delegate decisions about how to perform these tasks to IT and data management teams. But sometimes these activities require decisions that should really be made by stakeholders. That's where data governance comes into play , with decision making facilitated and coordinated by centralized resources.
Data governance programs can vary significantly depending on their focus, but they all essentially contain the same mission that can be summarized in these three points:
Create, gather and align the rules
Solve problems
Monitor and enforce rules while providing ongoing support to data subjects
On the other hand, the typical objectives of a Data Governance program usually include the following aspects:
Enabling better data-driven decision making
Reduce operational friction
Train management and users to adopt common approaches to data management
Build standard processes
Reduce costs and increase efficiency
Ensure transparency of processes
In each company, there are likely to be other objectives such as the company's infrastructure and culture for identifying personnel interested in the data. Others may be very specific, such as involving executives to validate a certain percentage of core business definitions.
Data governance is today a fundamental element for the availability, integrity, usability and security of the data used in a company.
Although the objectives, motivations and appropriate technological tools for implementing a data governance program are specific to the needs of each organization, there is a set of similar aspects that run through all of them, which we will discuss below.
Companies with a data governance program report a 31% nurse database in confidence in data quality.
Source: Webincare
What is Data Governance?
Data governance is the system of decisions and responsibilities for information-related processes that describe who can take what actions, with what data and when, in what situations, and using what methods.
Data governance concerns anyone who has any interest in how data is created, processed, stored, and made available for use. Often these people delegate decisions about how to perform these tasks to IT and data management teams. But sometimes these activities require decisions that should really be made by stakeholders. That's where data governance comes into play , with decision making facilitated and coordinated by centralized resources.
Data governance programs can vary significantly depending on their focus, but they all essentially contain the same mission that can be summarized in these three points:
Create, gather and align the rules
Solve problems
Monitor and enforce rules while providing ongoing support to data subjects
On the other hand, the typical objectives of a Data Governance program usually include the following aspects:
Enabling better data-driven decision making
Reduce operational friction
Train management and users to adopt common approaches to data management
Build standard processes
Reduce costs and increase efficiency
Ensure transparency of processes
In each company, there are likely to be other objectives such as the company's infrastructure and culture for identifying personnel interested in the data. Others may be very specific, such as involving executives to validate a certain percentage of core business definitions.