Data Governance Blog

Data Governance – Getting Started

Many of my blog entries have focused on developing understanding about why data governance matters, or fundamental concepts. Some readers are challenging me to make it more actionable. They want answers to the question of what actions can they put into a project plan?

One of the first things you can do is answer the question, “What reference data do we have that no one wants to manage?” This may seem like an odd question, but it will point you to the most critical data in your organization. Here is the logic; most people do not like to share responsibility. Most people prefer to manage something that is uniquely theirs. So if people shy away from the reference data describing the organization structure, then you found the data that needs governing … precisely because no one is intentionally managing it and everyone is using it.

Data that is widely shared in the organization is the glue that keeps your data connected. The data is not exciting to manage and has limited perceived value. The reality is quite the opposite with regard to the value. The more widely used the data, the greater the value to the organization. Much of the basic reference data fits into this category. The definitions of customer, account, organization, location, and other such ubiquitous data are what connects the facts that document the transactions and events. Without these connectors the facts would have very little value.

In one project, I worked on recently we built out a SQL Server reporting environment. As part of the project tracking, we monitored the table usage by the numerous queries, reports, and data marts. While we knew that certain tables were highly used, I was stunned that over 68% of the reports used one particular table LOCATION; the data that described the organization and how it related to the facts to different parts of the organization.

After you have identified the glue that holds your data together, you need to find the critical facts, or prime data. That we’ll save for another day.

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Thanks for stopping by. My writing is intended to take a lighter look at Data Governance, and toss in some pragmatic advice along the way.  If you are interested in more information on how to implement Data Governance in your organization, please contact me via LinkedIn or the email address below.

Regards,
Tom Jesionowski

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