Business leaders may believe that they need to start from zero when thinking about pushing a Data Governance Program in their organization. Sometimes, these leaders may also feel that they do not know where to begin. The truth is that you may still be in what we call "the passive phase," and your enterprise has some aspects of Data Governance already employed within the enterprise. Still, there are no organizational standards in place. With this common situation in mind, there are three ways in which businesses can get prepared for launching a Data Governance program in 60 days:
1) Get assessed: Before jumping straight into a Data Governance program implementation, you will need to understand your organization's level of maturity and the main areas of focus when it comes to data. CCG offers a RapidDG assessment solution, a six to eight-week engagement focused on your business's specific needs while yielding powerful results. The engagement's main goal is to provide a relatively rapid assessment, deriving actionable insights that could be quickly implemented with minimal disruption. The components covered in a RapidDG engagement include:
- Data Governance Program Set-Up: Evaluation and detailed recommendation of current Data Governance program with feedback on roles and responsibilities (people), processes, technology, and data.
- Actionable Roadmap Development: A 12-month roadmap detailing the milestones and requirements based on your Data Governance maturity. Documentation also includes essential tools, templates, and advisory services needed to manage a Data Governance program.
- Operating Model Enablement: Creation of an operational system, based on CCG's expertise and your organization's focus and knowledge, that defines and establishes a sustainable Data Governance program. We review and prioritize tasks (including policies and procedures) and assess needs based on our established Data Governance framework.
2) Build the business case: To enable a successful Data Governance program, it is important to understand its value to the organization. Launching a Data Governance initiative not only empowers all users, giving business stakeholders a larger voice on how their data is presented and managed, it also yields tangible business and IT benefits that include:
- Increased revenue: Improve profitability with better analytics for enhanced decision-making.
- Reduced costs: Facilitate business processes through new operational efficiencies.
- Risk minimization: Reduce regulatory compliance risk and improve confidence in operational and management decisions.
3) Educate the workforce: Knowledge is power, and people react best to a change in established work practices when it is clearly articulated throughout the enterprise. Therefore, a large emphasis on our Data Governance program is organizational change management, training, and data literacy. At CCG, we have found that a clear line of communication of the reasons for implementing a Data Governance program and a clear expectation of what it means for the organization's workforce results in great support from the stakeholders and larger success of the initiative. At the end of the day, it's the people side of change that enables an effective implementation.
If you are thinking of employing a Data Governance program in your organization, you can prepare over the next 60 days to ensure a successful implementation. Get help assessing your data needs, build your business case, and educate your workforce. Remember that one of the main goals for starting a Data Governance program is for the enterprise to recognize the value of data and treat it as a corporate asset. A successful program implementation will result in a more data-driven organization in its capabilities and decision support. An experienced partner like CCG will guide you every step of the way.
Learn more about launching a Data Governance initiative by visiting us online at https://ccganalytics.com/solutions/data-governance-data-management or calling an expert at (813) 265-3239.
Written by CCG, an organization in Tampa, Florida, that helps companies become more insights-driven, solve complex challenges and accelerate growth through industry-specific data and analytics solutions.