As a management consultant with an architecture bias for over three decades I have learned the value of assumptions. What is loud and clear is that each problem stands alone and solutions are not necessarily reusable across companies. This is so true in the data governance space.
As a designer and developer of data consolidation and integration solutions I appreciate the concept of governance and data governance. A well-defined and semantically consistent universe is a panacea. Truth is I do not dream about this, which further confirms the probability of working in an environment where a product number is a product number, a product type is known throughout and a customer is truly a well understand concept.
To the point. No question that governance and policy adds value. However the methods to institute are not universal, despite what many of my peers maintain. For example data stewardship makes sense and is frequently assigned within business operations; maybe a fund accounting function, a risk management function, a customer management desk or other transaction management or validation area. Yet this assumption in approach may be a wrong turn on the data management highway. How often is it viewed as unnecessary or an impediment to pushing through transactions? Nor is it unusual for the data steward or the data governance function considered to by a hostile force within the enterprise business processes.
Thus going forward the data governance solution must be able to coexist as a constructive element within the business data workflow and processes. Its scope must be achievable with the capabilities of the business. Its deployment should be a series of iterations/releases rather than a single isolated effort. It must be adaptive, flexible, proactive and well understood.
Basically it needs to be a top down endeavor driven by clear objectives and with a resulting plan which offers clear business value. It must be a core component of a data integration initiative. The organization supporting data governance must blend into the business model not appear like a parallel oversight stream. Let it not be “the enemy amongst us”.
Our firm takes an integrated best practice based approach, applying experience to adapt to the unique needs of the enterprise or line of business. We are always interested in the achievements of our peers in this space and look forward to a dialog on holistic and adaptable data governance.
Submitted By
Marc Hurst, a Managing Director from HPSquared LLC, offers insight based on his systems and data architecture experience. He has consulted across many industries as a management consultant and a systems integrator. Marc can be reached at marc.hurst@hpsquaredllc.com.
Filed under: data governance, data management, data quality, information strategy, master data management, project management, Uncategorized Tagged: | CIO, data governance, data quality, MDM
