In the digital age we live in, data has become a critical factor in the success of businesses. This is particularly true when it comes to collecting customer information, analyzing market trends, or making strategic decisions, among other things. However, with this explosion of data and its growing use, it has become crucial to ensure effective and responsible management within organizations. This is precisely where data governance comes into play, becoming an essential concept for businesses of all sizes. This blog article will guide you through the exploration of the fundamental concepts of data governance and the steps to be taken for a successful implementation strategy!
“The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.”
-The Economist
The main idea to take away from this quote is that, just like oil, raw data is useless. To derive value from it, it is necessary to refine and make sense of the data. Data governance is the essential strategy that enables this transformation by making data operational.
Data governance encompasses the entirety of managing an organization's digital data. It establishes a framework and structure for intelligent data management, aiming to minimize risks and maximize their value. It promotes a common understanding of indicators and data within a secure and privacy-respecting environment.
Data governance aims to establish a strong and healthy organizational culture by ensuring that data is used to achieve the strategic objectives of the company, while also ensuring its security, quality, and regulatory compliance.
Data governance is essential for organizations because data has become a valuable asset for understanding customers, making informed decisions, and optimizing business processes. Poor data management can lead to issues such as financial errors, privacy breaches, and a loss of trust from stakeholders. An effective data governance strategy promotes cross-functional data management, eliminating silos and enabling faster processes, better collaboration, and cost reduction.
Data governance also plays a key role in compliance with legislative standards. With Law 25, organizations must comply with new obligations, under the risk of financial penalties (read our blog on this topic). Good data governance helps integrate these obligations into the organization and facilitates internal and external audits.
The principle of Conway states that "any organization that designs a system (defined more broadly) will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organization's communication structure." In other words, poor data/information management will result in lower-quality products and services. In summary, effective data governance enables understandable, accessible, reliable data that is managed with defined responsibilities and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
It is necessary to start by understanding your current situation. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to conduct a diagnostic of your analytical maturity. You need to know where you are starting from to determine which direction to go and define the next steps to evolve your data governance to the next level.
At Videns, we adopt a long-term partnership approach with our clients. Our goal is to start by establishing a strong data culture and then progress towards innovative and profitable solutions. We are recognized for our end-to-end business intelligence and artificial intelligence solutions. Furthermore, we specialize in data valuation strategy and implementation. The common denominator and key to the success of each of these expertise areas is the implementation of crucial elements for sound data governance.
To establish effective data governance and foster a data-driven culture, here are the key aspects that we consider essential when our clients engage with us:
The quality of data and complex integration are not just technology-related problems, but rather encompass all stages of data lifecycle management. Therefore, it is important to establish a corporate strategy for managing data, while keeping in mind that people are at the heart of governance. A successful governance program often involves organizational change, particularly the allocation and communication of clear roles and responsibilities related to the data lifecycle. Data governance represents this corporate strategy and is broader than mere data management; it is both "organizational" in nature and technological in scope.
