Overlooking data quality
When it comes to data, data quality is often treated like that discarded instruction manual. It’s a guideline that’s easy to ignore when everyone has their own agenda or way of doing things. Is this piece really necessary? Won’t it be quicker if we do it like this instead? These small discrepancies are the root cause of so many data problems (and misshapen wardrobes).
But what can you do about it? How you can make sure that everyone is reading from the same rule book and working towards the same data goal, for a better outcome for your business?
With Data Governance.
Data governance defines the way that data is input, manipulated and used in your business. It is, in part, a rule book for your data, but any data governance strategy worth its salt should go beyond this.
It shouldn’t just write the rule book: it should look at how people interact with it.
Let’s think of your data as that flatpack wardrobe. You have all of the pieces (hopefully). You’ve got your instruction manual. You should have your end goal. But you’ve also got all of these different people attempting to put it together.
If someone decides that their method is better than the instructions, you’re going to have issues.
If someone is too focussed on getting to the end goal, and not on the details you really need to get there, you’re going to have issues.
If someone mis-identifies a crucial part of the data, you’re going to have issues.
The role of data governance is to ensure that everyone working with your data understands the importance of its accuracy, consistency and reliability, and that they share the same objective: whether that’s better customer service or more streamlined product information.
Theory vs reality: overseeing a data governance project
So that’s data governance in theory. But what about in reality? Often, businesses embarking on a data governance initiative find themselves overwhelmed by the steps they need to take to make sure data governance is adhered to (much like the person overseeing that flatpack assembly line).
How do you make sure that everyone is abiding by the rule book? Are they communicating effectively? Are concerns and queries being reported correctly, and listened to? Are you sure that one person’s data definition is the same as everyone else’s? And how can you measure the project’s success throughout the process – and not just at the end?
A practical approach to Data Governance
Where other consultancies preach the theory of Data Governance, Comma has taken a step further to create a full, end-to-end solution to help businesses govern their data effectively.
Our process gets everyone speaking the same data language and working towards the same data goals. We help you to outline the rules and processes you need, educate your teams on how to manage data properly and learn how to measure your results.
Our platform provides a single source to manage and link all aspects of your data governance, for easier management, reporting and measurement. It’s an out-of-the-box data model that allows you to create, edit and view data governance articles, from work flows to glossaries.
The result is a fully tailored governance solution that’s easy, affordable and scalable. With clearly defined practical steps and a platform to manage and measure them, it makes Data Governance simple to roll out across your business.
