Data governance is a fundamental part of information security—and crucial to keeping your business secure. While it might seem like implementing a data governance program is a dauting task that requires tons of resources and time, the reality is, with an organized risk-based approach, data governance can be both manageable and efficient. A significant part of your company’s value is in its data, so protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of it should be a top priority.
Data Governance Explained:
When it comes to data governance, consistency is the key to success. When data is consistently managed across the entire organization, it not only ensures for security and compliance, but it also ensures that every business function is truly using the data to improve business processes.
A good data governance program includes methods to control everything from integrity and use of data, to availability and security. For most companies, data usage isn’t limited to just one department, so it’s important to consult a multitude of perspectives across your organization when developing a data governance program. When done correctly, the creation of data governance policies will address company-wide needs, creating practical procedures that benefit your business and keep it safe.
Data Governance Goals:
Aside from keeping your business safe, what else should you hope to gain from implementing a data governance program? While business goals will vary from organization to organization, these four goals should guide your data governance program development:
- Improve business outcomes and drive business growth
- Standardize policies and procedures (allowing for repetition and scale across your organization)
- Manage risks and meet compliance and security requirements
- Reduce costs and improve efficiencies
Understanding Your Data:
One of the most basic aspects of data governance is understanding what your data consists of, and how to keep it safe. Auditing your data as you develop your governance program—and continuing to audit regularly—will test the effectiveness of your policies and procedures and ultimately help keep your business safe. When assessing what your data consists of, consider these five questions to guide you:
- What kind of data is it?
- If it’s not public data, what is it?
- Does your business want to this data to be accessed?
- How will your business protect this data and how will you control the spend?
- Should you build you own data management system? Or host?
Effective data governance is a critical to your business’s success—and without alignment across every department, it’s challenging. Start by aligning key stakeholders and better understanding your business’s data governance goals, and consider leveraging a trusted partner to help facilitate the process. While effective data governance is important, it’s not impossible. Start small, create measurable goals, and position your business for future success.
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