Introduction
Do you believe the fact that most business leaders do not rely on the data they have to make crucial decisions? This scenario showcases that data exists everywhere, but the confidence in its accuracy and value is much lower than we think. In this data-driven era, these doubts about data can hinder the growth and operational efficiency of an organization.
To combat this challenge, here are the two powerful tools in the picture: data governance and data management. You might have heard these terms interchangeably, but they are not the same. Data governance deals with ensuring that the data remains accurate, safe, and compliant with policies and regulations. Whereas, data management means organizing and controlling data assets most effectively.
Hence, there’s no denying that data governance is the backbone of data management. This post further explains in-depth why data governance is essential for efficient data management. Before moving with it, let’s have a glimpse of basic data governance and data management.
Understanding Data Governance and Data Management
Data governance can be defined as a structured framework that tells about how data is created, stored, used, and protected within the firm. It includes data ownership, standards, stewardship, regulatory compliance, etc. For instance, having an accountable team or individual who oversees and maintains data integrity, establishes consistent rules for naming, formatting, and using data, and ensures that the organization adheres to the external laws and internal policies – all these activities come under data governance.
On the other hand, data management is the operational or technical process that deals with collecting, storing, safeguarding, and processing data for crucial decision-making. It includes tools and techniques that are used to manage the data throughout its lifecycle. For a broader view, storing data in a database or cloud platforms, integrating it from multiple sources, taking security measures to protect it, and processing it for business use – all these are the core functions of the data management process.
Why Data Governance is Essential for Data Management?
It can be said that if data governance is the strategy, then data management is the execution. Both are indispensable and incomplete without each other. Here are the key reasons that tell why data governance and management must work in tandem to make organizations thrive in today’s digital landscape.
1. Keep a Check on Data Accuracy and Maintain Standardisation
One of the key elements that impact data reliability is the accuracy and quality of data. Inconsistent and poor-quality data with duplicate entries, disorganized formats, and outdated records are of no use to an organization and may lead to missed opportunities and wrong decisions. Hence, a robust governance framework lays out rules, policies, and roles that help to prevent data duplication and input error, and maintain standardization across all the data sets, which leads to smarter decision-making with accurate data analytics.
2. Strengthens Data Security and Access Control
Securing the data is as important as storing it due to the increasing cases of data breaches. Today, it has become a significant task for companies to take proactive measures to secure sensitive information. Data governance helps to ensure data security by embedding security protocols, like establishing role-based access control, defining sensitive data categories, and integrating identity and access management (IAM) systems. These steps ensure that data is free from unauthorized access, misuse, and cyber threats. When you ensure that only authorized individuals have access, you minimize the risk of data breaches and leaks.
3. Compliance with Rules and Regulations
Every organization needs to ensure compliance with the set policies and regulations like GDPR, CCPA, etc., for secure growth. Operating outside the law may lead to dollars of fines or even the closure of the company. Data governance assures that the data management systems align with the legal requirements by establishing relevant policies and procedures. It creates audit trails for regulatory checks, ensuring that data is collected, managed, and used ethically. It helps organizations prevent legal penalties and reputational damage associated with non-compliance.
4. Enables Scalability and Future-Readiness
When a business grows, its data needs grow as well, and without governance, scaling data systems could be a challenging task, which may result in operational chaos and inefficiencies. Hence, data governance is a must to scale data infrastructure by adopting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data analytics tools. An effective governance framework supports structured cloud migration and hybrid data structures, along with the adaptation of functional policies as the firm grows and data complexity increases.
5. Helps in Informed Decision Making
In this digital era, data could be a game-changer while making crucial business decisions. Data governance gifts you with accurate, consistent, and secure data so that you can make informed decisions without any doubt about reliability. Using it as a foundation, organizations can optimize their operations, enhance client relationships, and gain a competitive edge in their respective industry. All this is possible because of the clarity and confidence that data governance builds, which is a non-negotiable aspect.
6. Fosters Data-Driven Culture
Data governance promotes data literacy and organizational accountability to cultivate a data-centric culture. It empowers teams and individuals to make responsible use of data for making smarter data-driven decisions. It plays a crucial role by clearly designating data stewards, enhancing transparency in internal reporting, and effective communication across departments using shared data definitions. This clarity that comes with data governance makes teams rely on data without doubting its accuracy.
Final Thoughts
Data is a crucial asset that needs to be organized and protected. Data governance is a regulatory structure, and more than that, it is the fundamental aspect of data management that can help businesses innovate and scale effectively. With proper governance, organizations can ensure data accuracy, strengthen data security, ensure compliance with regulations, make informed decisions, and foster a data-driven culture to stand out in the competitive market.
As data needs grow with organizational growth, data governance is no longer an optional aspect. Evaluate your governance system today, build a strategy that supports sustainable efforts, and unlock full potential with crucial data assets!