5 Tips for Data Governance and Strategy

As data is increasingly driving business decisions, organizations are faced with the difficult job of maintaining compliance while being sure they don’t get bogged down by the sheer amount of data.

Your data strategy can mean the difference between a smooth transition and being blindsided by a data breach or data mismanagement.

With a data governance strategy and its execution plan in place, the right decisions about which data is needed, where it resides, and how it is used to make strategic business decisions become much easier.

Data governance and strategy aren’t usually two words we associate together, but the reality is that in today’s digital world, data quality and governance matter as much as anything else. It is no longer enough to just store information about your company. You must make sure you know what data is being stored, where it is stored, and what you need to do to protect it. In addition to keeping up with data regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), companies must also ensure that their data is accurate, well-organized, and secure.

At the heart of any digital transformation initiative is a set of data governance principles that ensure the integrity of the data that is captured, stored, and processed as part of the effort.

We’ve seen it first hand: when companies struggle with data governance and strategy. This is a common issue that plagues startups and SMBs, especially as they try to grow into large enterprises. But while this is a challenge, it’s not a reason to give up on your vision or goals. By building a robust data governance and strategy framework, you can take a step back and let your business naturally guide itself towards its destination. Here’s what you need to get started.

1. Find out what data you have, who owns it, what’s missing, and what’s valuable

The best way to approach data governance is to determine what your goals are as an organization, and then figure out the steps you need to take in order to achieve those goals. At a minimum, you need to determine your data sources, and then identify what you know, what you don’t know, and what you need to do to fill in the gaps.

Data governance is about the people, processes, and technology that you use to manage, analyze, store, and distribute all the data that is generated within and outside your organization.

It’s important to understand what data you have, and who owns it. Once you’ve identified this information, think about what data would be valuable for your business.

2. Figure out where data needs to go

Data is an important part of your business. But it can also be a huge headache if it doesn’t move quickly to its intended destination. Data governance frameworks help you make decisions about the types of data you want to keep, where you want it stored, and who should have access to it.

Data governance is the process of ensuring that the right data is collected, stored, organized, and used for business purposes. Many people confuse data governance with data management. While they’re similar concepts, data governance focuses on ensuring that the right data is used correctly and in the right places.

3. Figure out how data should be organized and stored

In terms of your data, a great first step is to figure out what kind of organization makes the most sense. This will help you decide how to structure your data. For example, if you’re creating a company directory, your data might be best organized by industry, type of company (or product), or category. If you’re collecting user information and data, then you’ll want to store the data by user account and/or profile.

4. Set up a data governance plan

So, you’ve got some data to share, but where do you start? The first step to getting started is to establish a clear set of data governance guidelines and principles.

A data governance strategy is a blueprint for all the activities that will take place in the organization when it comes to data. It encompasses everything from data collection to data storage to data quality control. The goal of data governance is to ensure that your organization can access and use data in ways that will maximize the value of your business. Data governance plans also help ensure compliance with the many different regulations that affect every business.

5. Make sure everyone knows where to find the data they need

Data governance and strategy frameworks ensure that data is available to everyone who needs it. Without this, even the most well-intentioned employee can end up making poor decisions. For example, if a marketing director or analyst wants to track their company’s social media performance, but the team she needs to share this information with does not have access to the right systems, then she might simply not know that her colleagues have posted a tweet in the last hour. This is why strong data governance and strategy frameworks are critical.

In conclusion, “Data governance” isn’t just a buzzword. It’s an absolute necessity when it comes to successfully implementing any enterprise-wide data strategy. When implemented properly, it can lead to big gains in productivity, collaboration, agility, and, ultimately, revenue. A strong data governance program, such as Delphix, ensures the security, integrity, and accessibility of company data across all systems and across all users, from executives to field workers. A sound data governance strategy includes a set of controls that help organizations use data more efficiently, save money, improve the customer experience, and make better decisions.