How does one articulate the business case for effective data governance?

Question

Answer

Identify the value drivers of data governance for your organization, such as improving data quality, enhancing data security, increasing data accessibility, or complying with data regulations.

Understand the pain points or challenges that your organization faces due to the lack of data governance, such as data silos, data breaches, data errors, or data fines.

Answer

Concentrate on pivotal aspects, including data precision and quality, risk reduction, adherence to regulations, streamlined operations, and notably, informed strategic decision-making. Effective data governance isn't just a technical practice; it's a strategic imperative. Each focus area needs to be supported by relevant data and clear benefits to effectively build your business case for data governance.

Answer

I talk about this to executives on a daily basis. First and foremost is if you treat governance as a risk based exercise as most do, then it is effectively doomed to fail. This is because there is no effective ROI on doing it if you take this view. However, there is a massive ROI on effective data management. It is no coincidence that the companies with the most effective data management have built mega businesses of this specific capability. In pretty much every organisation revenue is a highly managed. It's audited, has a dedicated team to look after it and the CEO wakes up every day highly interested in that metric and it has to be right. Only some people get to see it, we know where it's calculated and how, we reconcile (test) it continuously, we know where it's kept and who is responsible for it. Sounds a lot like data governance to me. So for me we need to stop talking about risk management and start talking about the business value of our data. We need to start talking about what it's costing us to NOT do it properly currently. With modern tools and processes, finance data doesn't have to be the only way data we manage effectively. We can make our approach automated and efficient enough to manage ALL data we care about and probably save the finance team a lot of pain and suffering along the way. Despite what they think, we can do much better than Excel.

Answer

Effective data governance isn't just about compliance; it's a strategic investment in unlocking the full potential of data. By ensuring data quality, security, and accessibility, organizations can make informed decisions, drive innovation, and foster a culture of trust – ultimately leading to amplified growth, enhanced customer experiences, and a competitive edge.

Answer

A business case for effective data governance can be articulated by highlighting the benefits, costs, and risks associated with it.

Some pointers to help you:

Benefits:

- Improved decision making by providing reliable and relevant data that supports evidence-based actions and outcomes
- Improved data quality (by enforcing standards & rules)
- Efficient data management (removing silos, duplication)
- Compliance with regulations by ensuring adherence to data privacy and security standards
- et al

Costs:
- Data governance tools
- Resources to manage
- Change Management

Risks:
- Non-compliance
- Data breaches
- Data quality issues
- lack of competitive edge

Please think through and add more in your context.

How does one articulate the business case for effective data governance?

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