What Is Data Governance?

As a data professional, some of the most frustrating conversations you will have about data governance will be about data programs feeling like a series of constraints versus a strategic enabler and that you are slowing business down vs. enabling excellence. Having led data transformations in three Fortune 500 companies, I have heard my fair share of these same messages. In my humble opinion, this is feedback; feedback that we are speaking in “data speak” and have not created a business case that is centered on value generation from the lens of our stakeholders. Rather, we have delivered a business case that is focused on data needs vs. business needs.

From a stakeholder’s perspective, there are a plethora of forces at stake in driving business: generating revenue through the sales teams, marketing to existing and potential customers, economic factors, and supply chain challenges. Data is a part of all of these critical business components, but it is not the first thing that comes to mind for our stakeholders. It is embedded in how business runs. It is a part of the day-to-day. It does not and should not feel like a standalone function.

Therefore, it’s our job to serve the business and to make it feel seamless to the business stakeholders we enable. When things feel like friction, it’s not necessarily because we’re not supported; it’s because we are one of many problems leaders are facing. Often, this comes in the form of a lack of buy-in or pushback, a seemingly endless number of questions, or simply a lack of engagement. For data professionals, conversations like this often end in frustration and the underfunding of the data governance program. I have seen this scenario over and over again in organizations firsthand and have heard it from data executives in every single industry. Far too often, it ultimately ends in the failure of a chief data & analytics officer to survive in the organization.

The question is, why?

Over the course of the next 17 chapters, I will explain why Chief Data and Analytics Officers fail to establish themselves as strategic business partners in their organizations and how you can overcome these common pitfalls and succeed. I will cover everything you need to know to build a case for data governance, rally your organization to support you, deploy a strong data governance program, leverage core data governance solutions, and apply all of this in a case study for a fictitious financial institution. Let’s dive in.