Data Governance 2.0: Collaborative Data Governance

Data Governance 1.0 has been too isolated to be truly effective, and so a new, collaborative data governance approach is necessary.

This rings especially true when considering the imminent implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Compliance is required from all EU-based companies and those trading with the EU.

It’s extremely likely that your business falls under GDPR’s scope. Failure to comply will leave your company liable for penalties up to €20 million or 4% or annual global turnover – whichever is greater.

With the amount of data a modern business has to manage, and the copious access points, GDPR compliance will require everyone to sing from the same hymn sheet.

This is where Data Governance 2.0 comes in. As defined by Forrester, it is “an agile approach to data governance focused on just enough controls for managing risk, which enables broader and more insightful use of data required by the evolving needs of an expanding business ecosystem.”

The principles of Data Governance 2.0 were designed with modern, data-driven business in mind. This new approach acknowledges the demand for collaborative data governance, tears down organizational silos, and spreads responsibilities across more roles.

Collaborative Data Governance – Shattering Silos

As addressed above, modern businesses must deal with volumes of data that legacy systems and policies just weren’t designed to manage. This problem is exacerbated by the variety of data, both structured and unstructured, historically managed by different departments within an organization.

To shatter such silos, organizations can leverage a collaborative data governance approach to foster better data use and accountability. A governance tool that can sort, regulate and manage data access through secure checkpoints and assigned roles is key. Then the right data of the right quality, regardless or format or location, is available to the right people for the right purpose.

Such a data governance tool is paramount not only to help ensure GDPR compliance but also for effective business operations. It’s important to stress that data governance is a key revenue driver.

In this digital age, data is more valuable than oil. But as with oil, it must be refined.

Collaborative Data Governance – The Data Refinery

Data Governance 1.0 was mainly concerned with cataloging data to support search and discovery. However, it fell short in adding value because it neglected the meaning of data assets and their relationships within the wider data landscape.

Many of the IT professionals involved in data governance recognized this, but calls for business leaders to be more active in governance often fell on deaf ears. Now that data has become a more critical business asset, we’re starting to see a shift.

Collaborative data governance encourages involvement throughout the organizational hierarchy. This is especially important now that business leaders, from CMOs to CTOs, are intrinsically involved in data management on a day-to-day basis.

As the best placed individuals in an organization to advocate and implement change, bringing ranking business leaders into the fold helps inform and enable the effort’s return on investment – both in limiting data exposures and driving new opportunities.

In the case of the CMO, data analysis might indicate that email open rates exceed targets, but click-through rates are underperforming. The CMO then can adjust content strategy to provide prospects with more relevant information and calls to action.

To learn more about collaborative data governance and the tool to foster this approach, click here.