For Infor M3 customers, the importance of data governance cannot be understated. It clearly defines the people, processes, and technologies required to manage, use, and protect an organization’s data assets.
This ideology effectively powers digital transformation by establishing the protocols around who can access specific data, what they can do with it, and how. With this in place, good data governance enables companies to leverage innovative technologies, including predictive analytics and artificial intelligence.
In this article, we’ll explore common data governance challenges, highlight the benefits, and tell you why Doppio and Syniti are the best choices for your Infor M3 data governance strategy.
4 Common Data Governance Challenges and Benefits
If you don’t establish good data governance in your enterprise, you can run into major problems. Here are four common challenges Infor M3 customers face with data governance
1.) Inconsistent data
Without a holistic approach that carefully considers the who, what, and how of your data management, your enterprise data will be riddled with inconsistencies, duplicates, and errors.
What Data Governance Offers
With better data management, you will have cleaner, which, in turn, means data analysts can quickly and easily perform data-based tasks. Better data governance leads to better data quality—it really is that simple.
2.) Data silos
Informational silos arise when departments fail to communicate and collaborate properly. In the data-driven age, enterprises should eradicate these roadblocks, as they are detrimental to the organization’s productivity, ultimately preventing it from maximizing the potential of its data.
What Data Governance Offers
By embracing best practices in data management, sharing, and communications, you can improve internal business process alignment, where people take ownership and accountability for their data. This collaborative approach can quickly eliminate finger-pointing or information gaps, as you have clearly defined processes and priorities to get the most value from your data.
3.) Misguided business decisions
If you’re working with inaccurate data, and a team that doesn’t communicate properly, your business is bound to suffer. Inevitably, this weak foundation will lead to poor decision-making at the executive level, which will cost the company in the long run.
What Data Governance Offers
Data governance gives everyone a consistent view and common terminology for data assets and processes. With a well-crafted framework, your enterprise can maximize the potential of data analytics and machine learning to draw more tangible value and compile more accurate reports. Ultimately, good data governance principles fuel much smarter business decisions that lead to higher performance and profitability.
4.) Security Issues
Enterprises have a lot of security issues to think about today. For instance, you must remain compliant with Government regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), or industry requirements such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). Failure to do so could cost the company massively if they were hit with a fine or if a hacker compromises their data.
What Data Governance Offers
A good data governance policy will go beyond the internal organization to protect company data from external threats and implement better regulatory compliance. These measures are essential, making sure that the company remains secure, avoids penalties, and retains a trustworthy reputation with customers.
5 Steps to Better Data Governance
Here are five data governance best practices that you should implement in your enterprise:
1.) Start with a top-down approach
The support for change management must come from the senior executive level. It is the responsibility of company leaders to instill a culture of stewardship and accountability for data governance to be successful.
2.) Survey scope of pain points
For M3 data governance to work, a strategy is vital as it helps everyone identify and understand the various issues that the company must address.
3.) Establish an accountability structure
In a similar way to DataOps, data governance relies on the harmony between people, processes, and technology. Building a team that is accountable for data assets and actions is critical. Typically, your data governance team will include:
A Manager who leads the implementation and maintenance of master data governance throughout the enterprise.
Data Stewards who ensure everyone adheres to the defined standards and policies for data use in the enterprise.
Solution and Data Governance Architect who offers expertise for data solution designs and implementations.
Data Analyst who uses analytics tools to determine trends and evaluate information.
Data Strategist who creates and executes analytics plans based on trend-patterns.
4.) Map the processes
With the people in place, you then need to evaluate existing processes and determine if you can adapt them within a revised data governance framework. Otherwise, you must devise new data processes that clarify how your organization will store, move, change, access, and secure data.
5.) Introduce technology as required
Introduce tools that enhance your existing initiatives, scaling up technology use depending on the complexity of the data issues and organization size. For example, you could use a more comprehensive monitoring and reporting software as the company grows.
Syniti and Doppio: The Smart Choice for Infor M3 Data Governance
Working with Doppio is the de facto choice for Infor M3 customers because of our dedicated support, vast Infor experience, and deep network of industry experts. Our new partner, Syniti, has a wealth of experience in the processes and tools side of data management, especially with Fortune 500 companies.
With cloud migration and AI now firmly entrenched in the data-driven age, enterprises can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Together, Doppio and Syniti offer M3 customers an end-to-end service that encapsulates the three data governance principles – people, processes, and tools.
Tyler Warden is the VP of Product Management at Syniti. He explains that:
“Data Governance is a key accelerator for meaningful AI-driven insights by providing clean, free-flowing, trusted, and understood data to the AI system. Data Governance itself also benefits from finding and using the latest insights and knowledge in metadata to drive business strategy and outcomes. Integrating Virtyx real-time stream processing with Syniti’s Deep Guidance™ AI provides a complete and continuously learning solution to unlock the power of data.”
Any Time is a Good Time for Data Governance
Data governance is the crucial first step to ensuring good data quality, security, and valuable business insights. In essence, Infor M3 data governance forms the foundation of trustworthy, efficient master data management that facilitates a smooth cloud migration and successful digital transformation.
As more organizations shift to the cloud, the global need for good data governance grows. It’s important to realize that regardless of where your organization is in its journey to develop better data management, it’s never too early to start data governance, and it’s never too late to start.