Data Governance Headaches: What Most People Get Wrong

Data governance refers to the process of managing the security, integrity, and useability of business data. Data governance efforts are based on established internal policies and best practices.

While collecting data is a great first step, data governance ensures all that information is properly managed so you can leverage it to support business outcomes. Global News Wire predicts the data governance market will reach $7.42 billion by 2026. Effectively, modern businesses are amassing data at an unprecedented rate, making data governance more important than ever.

With so much time, energy, and money devoted to data governance, you would think that most businesses are effectively governing their data. However, there is actually a significant disconnect between the C-suite’s perception of their organization’s data governance capabilities and reality.

Signs Your Data Governance Strategy Needs Improvement

Data governance is complicated. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ways to get it wrong. Only a few paths forward will support desirable business outcomes.

To ensure you get it right and make the most out of your data, it is essential to familiarize yourself with a few telltale signs that your data governance solution needs improvement.

You Lack a Complete View of Your Data Landscape

Do you know what scope of data your business collects, where it is stored, and who has access to it? If not, then data governance will always be challenging for your organization.

How can you effectively govern your data if you don’t even know where it is or what information it includes? You can’t.

Your Siloed Data Has Created a Metadata Mess

Metadata lays the foundation for data governance. These small bits of information describe what type of information larger data sets contain. However, if you want metadata to serve its purpose, you must ensure your data isn’t siloed across multiple disparate platforms.

If you have similar categories of data scattered around your network, you may have a full-blown metadata mess. Before cleaning it up, you must tear down those siloes by adopting a unified data management solution.

Your Analytics Team is Struggling Without Trustworthy Data

Two key reasons companies invest more in data governance are to support analytics and enhance data quality. Forward-thinking decision-makers understand that their analytics teams cannot support business processes if they don’t have access to high-quality, trustworthy data.

Determining if your data quality is hindering your analytics processes is relatively easy—all you have to do is talk to your team. If your analysts have concerns about data quality, accessibility, or usability, it may be time to reassess your data governance platform.

You’re Up Against GDPR, CCA, or Other Regulatory Demands

The General Data Protection Regulation and similar legislation hold businesses responsible for protecting consumer data. Staying GDPR compliant and meeting the demands of these regulatory acts can be tough, especially if your data governance strategy is in disarray.

Compliance with these laws is critical, as the fines for violations can be severe. Failing to comply with the latest regulatory demands can also lead to reputational damage and customer distrust.

You’re Facing a Data Migration

Does the mere thought of migrating your data to a new platform send chills down your spine? If your data governance strategy needs to be improved, it should be.

Migrating even the most well-organized business data is a daunting task. Moving siloed, disjointed, poorly governed information to another solution can, in fact, make matters worse than if you had done nothing at all. Do yourself a favor and set the stage for a successful migration by first getting your data governance strategy in order.

Essential Steps to Optimizing Your Data Governance Strategy

If the above indicators sound familiar, it is time to optimize your data governance strategy. Here’s how you do it.

Machine Learning & Automation

Leverage automated workflows that speed up data collection and management processes. Automating these workflows with machine learning and artificial intelligence technology also reduces the frequency of errors, improving overall data quality.

Data Catalog

Adopting a data catalog & governance solution allows you to easily create, manage, and enforce data terms, rules, policies, and best practices. A unified platform will also eliminate data silos and empower you to manage your strategic data initiatives.

Metadata Management

Organizing your metadata is a significant step toward better data governance. Adopting a data governance solution may help your business thrive in its vertical. In a recent Syniti poll, researchers surveyed C-suite executives to gauge their thoughts on the importance of improving data quality and visibility. 95% of respondents believe their companies would gain a competitive edge and speed up decision-making if they could increase data quality two-fold.

Prioritize Privacy and Security

Data governance and information security go hand-in-hand. Data governance will also become more manageable when your organization prioritizes consumer privacy and data security.

Focus on the End-User Experience

One great way to improve data governance is to view the issue from the end-users’ perspective. In this scenario, the end-users are your analysts. Talk to them, find out what resources they need to do their jobs more effectively, and provide those assets via data governance.

Achieve Superior Outcomes With Syniti

Your master data governance strategy can make or break your business. Fortunately, you can set the stage for superior outcomes, simplify data governance and management, and support your analytics team by adopting a unified, agnostic platform.

Syniti’s data governance solution eliminates the complexity and sprawl of multiple data management tools and vendors. Our unified data management solution ensures that the data and business processes that drive exceptional outcomes are trusted and understood.

Check out our data governance solutions to learn more about the importance of effective data management, or contact Syniti to schedule a consultation with one of our data governance professionals.