September 22, 2008
Why so complicated?
Build from the ground up!
As soon as an organization has one person who cares about data, that organization has data governance – albeit, not at a formal level. But, what is formality…at times it plays out as complexity. It is up to the organization to seek out and develop data governance at the appropriate levels. Notice that one person can make a difference and that difference can begin with local data and local systems. With the right leadership, that person is encouraged to evangelize throughout the department.
Once this gets traction, teams are formed that ‘care’. These teams – given the right leadership – then work together and form virtual teams that cross boundaries. This movement from department level stewardship to a virtual team assembling across lines of business is a turning point within an organization. Lots of great things can now occur – silos begin to be torn down by natural and organic growth that was born by teams collaborating while each learning to share.
Given the right leadership, the next step is the enterprise level. At this level, enterprise standards are created and shared across the organization. Formal groups with the proper framework and the right people must exist.
However, let’s not stop there. We can no longer consider the limits of our responsibility as defined by the walls of the organization. Our supply chain is dependent upon our partners (vendors and suppliers). What is Toyota without their suppliers? We need to push data governance out (up) to the partnership levels!
Note that my ‘oversimplified’ model also contains some levels within each ‘phase’. Level “a” indicates the notion of containment. This is the mind set of approaching a new concept/threat with the view that one must contain the risk. The next level “b” adds the increased stewardship role of reconciliation. This is the idea of ensuring that the new ‘concept’ is rolled back into the enterprise model in whatever form is necessary. Lastly, the level “c” is the disposition of the group that is seeking how to make things better. Each and every concept is treated with the proactive nature of – Let’s do it the right way!
~ Scott Felten
Filed under: Data Management | Tagged: Data, Data Analysis, Data Governance, Governance, Information Technology, Scott Felten
