Data Governance: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 3. Ingredients of Data Governance: People and Processes

As mentioned in the preceding chapters, companies want to be able to derive more insights from their data. They want to make “data-driven decisions.” Gone are the days of business decisions being based exclusively on intuition or observation. Big data and big data analytics now allow for decisions to be made based on collecting data and extracting patterns and facts from that data.

We have spent much time explaining how this movement into using big data has brought with it a host of considerations around the governance of that data, and we have outlined tools that aid in this process. Tools, however, are not the only factor to evaluate when designing a data governance strategy—the people involved and the process by which data governance is implemented are key to a successful implementation of a data governance strategy.

The people and process are aspects of a data governance strategy that often get overlooked or oversimplified. There is an exceedingly heavier reliance on governance tools, and though tools are getting better and more robust, they are not enough by themselves; how the tools are implemented, an understanding of the people using them, and the process set up for their proper use are all critical to governance success as well.

The People: Roles, Responsibilities, and Hats

Many data governance frameworks revolve around a complex interplay of many roles and responsibilities. These frameworks rely heavily ...