Data Governance (Part Two)

This is the second of two articles introducing the concept of data governance.

Now we’re going to introduce a theme that will return over and over again in different contexts throughout this blog: if you’re the boss, you need to be on board for any of this to work well. By “the boss” I mean the owner if it’s a small business, and a non-IT C-level executive (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer in that order of preference) if it’s a larger business.

Why this order of preference? The CEO by definition has the most clout: typically the COO and Chief Information Officer (CIO) both report to her, and she can easily delegate responsibility for the data governance process jointly through them. The COO, having direct responsibility for day-to-day operations, is the next best choice. The CFO is more of a dicey choice because in most mature businesses IT grew up as an arm of finance and accounting and was later split off into a separate unit. Because of this, the relationship between IT and finance and accounting is often either too cozy (if the split was friendly) or too adversarial (if it wasn’t).

And why do we need the boss on board in the first place? Especially in larger companies, politics can play a huge role in the governance process. It’s only natural that stakeholders in the governance process will fight tooth and nail for the definitions, policies, and procedures that are most favorable to their business units. The boss needs to firmly and consistently champion the process as a whole, and to set guidance that places the overall business strategy for data governance above departmental politics.