Business Knowledge

Data Governance: Applied Frameworks

Data Governance: Your 5-Step Action Plan

Tame your data mess and make it a valuable asset.

  1. DEFINE YOUR “WHY”

    • What business problem are you trying to solve with data governance? (e.g., better reporting, compliance, AI readiness)
    • Pitfall: Starting without clear objectives.

  2. IDENTIFY CRITICAL DATA

    • What data is most important to your business (e.g., customer, product, financial)?
    • Who is the Data Owner (accountable for the data)? Who is the Data Steward (day-to-day quality)?

  3. SET THE RULES

    • Establish clear definitions for your critical data.
    • Create policies for data quality, security, privacy, and retention.
    • Tip: Start small, focus on high-impact data domains.

  4. IMPLEMENT & AUTOMATE

    • Put processes and tools in place to enforce your rules (e.g., data quality checks, metadata catalog).
    • Pitfall: Manual processes don’t scale.

  5. MONITOR & IMPROVE

    • Track data quality metrics and compliance.
    • Data governance is an ongoing journey, not a destination.

Golden Rule: Data governance is about enabling value, not creating bureaucracy. Communicate the benefits!