What is Data Governance?

Data Governance: A Definition

Actually, before we define data governance, let’s establish what we mean by “data.” In terms of IT, data is information that is stored and processed on a digital device like a server, database, computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Now that we have dealt with the basics, we move on to explaining data governance. Data governance is an umbrella term for collecting practices, policies, processes, roles, standards, and metrics dedicated to helping an organization realize its goals using efficient and practical information. Data governance manages the availability, integrity, security, and usability of all data residing in enterprise systems.

Data governance should not be confused with?data management. Data management entails overseeing an organization’s entire data lifecycle needs. Data governance is a core component of data management — tying together nine additional disciplines, including data security,?data cleansing, data quality, database operations,?data warehousing, and more. In more straightforward terms, data governance creates the policies and procedures regarding data, while data management enacts those procedures to gather and use the data for decision-making.

The Goals of Data Governance

Our data-heavy world makes a solid data governance program mandatory. It’s no exaggeration to say that any business today that doesn’t have a data governance strategy puts itself at unnecessary risk. Here are the goals of a healthy, effective data governance model:

• Ensure the company can make confident, consistent business decisions based on reliable data
• Boost data security by establishing data ownership parameters and related responsibilities
• Monetize the data to increase profits
• Meet regulatory requirements and avoid punitive measures such as fines by documenting data asset lineage and data-related access controls, including implementing compliance requirements
• Establish consistent rules for data use
• Reduce overhead costs
• Increase the overall value of data
• Improve both internal and external communication

The Benefits of Data Governance

The line between goals and benefits gets blurred often because met goals ultimately turn into advantages. At the risk of redundancy, let’s list the benefits of data governance. There may be enough distinction to justify it.

• The organization’s data increases in value
• There are clear and improved standards for data policies, systems, and procedures
• The company achieves greater transparency regarding data-related activities
• The business’s revenue grows, and costs shrink
• The organization gains a platform that meets the demands of the many government regulations in force today. Businesses must adhere to the?European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation?(GDPR), the United States’ HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and other industry requirements like the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards)
• Since valuable data fuels commercial success in today’s digital world, this gives the company an edge over the competition
• A good data governance platform facilitates the use of?big data analytics
• Data governance improves cybersecurity, protecting corporate assets from theft and tampering.