What is data governance?
In its simplest form, data governance refers to the structure for decision-making and authority for data and data-related subjects.
Data is one of the most valuable assets organizations possess, and data governance ought to be of concern to any entity involved in the creation, collection, processing, manipulation, storage, or retirement of data. A system of data governance should cover the delegation of decision-making power, accountabilities, practices, possible actions, and outcomes, all while defining what is permissible within an organization.
Data governance can also refer to the rules, regulations, and enforcement protocols for the protection and security of data. Of course, the scale and complexity of the data governance program will vary based on not only the size of the organization, but also the size and complexity of the data, and the dependency of the organization on that data.
Data stakeholders are those with decision-making authority and responsibility for data. While IT and data management teams are often delegated responsibility to deliver particular outcomes, data stakeholders are responsible for ensuring that data is used according to agreed data governance best practices and processes. Data stakeholders are also responsible for resolving issues pertaining to data governance such as monitoring and evaluation.
Developing a formal data governance framework can aid with the communication and management of complicated issues of data as they arise in an organization. A good data governance framework supports decision making by providing clarity of thought and purpose to stakeholders in authority positions. It can also enhance horizontal communication between an organization’s various entities and disciplines, such as development, compliance, management, and IT.
Data governance tools
Data profiling and data quality underpin all successful data governance programs. You can’t govern data that you don’t understand, so knowing the profile of your data is critical. It is also important to know the provenance and lineage of your data -- where did it come from, and what changes have been made to it along the way. This can be challenging if you are pulling from many data sources, blending that data together, and leveraging it in various systems, including the cloud.
Likewise, you only want to make decisions -- or report on industry regulations -- with data you trust to be valid, accurate and fit-for-purpose. That’s where a robust data quality solution is needed.
How Precisely can help
Our data governance solutions help you accelerate insights while reducing risk with streamlined, effective and agile data governance. Many enterprises have chosen Precisely to support their data governance initiatives. Precisely Data360 Govern seamlessly integrates with Precisely Data Quality solutions like Data360 DQ+ and Trillium Discovery to deliver the visibility you need to ensure your data is fit-for-purpose and business-rules compliant.