In the business world, your data is pivotal to understanding your customers, market trends and how your company is performing. Using this information well is the key to the continued improvement of customer satisfaction, coming up with new ideas and getting more done.

To really make the most of your digital info, you need to manage it and set some rules for how it’s used.

Managing data means organizing it in a smart way, keeping it safe, and being able to find it easily. When you manage data well, things run smoother, people can work together better and you can trust the insights you get from your data.

Data governance vs. data management

Data governance is about making rules for how your data is handled. It deals with who owns the data, how it’s used, and ensuring the quality of that data. The goal is to keep your data accurate, consistent and safe, following both the rules of regulators and your own company’s policies.

Data management deals with how your data is organized, secured and retrieved.

It is vital that you have a clear understanding of data governance in order to put into practice solid data management.

The importance of data governance

Unreliable or inconsistent data can lead to poor decision making or even put you on the wrong side of regulators. When you manage your data well and follow good governance practices, you make better decisions, can be more innovative and put your company on the path to greater profitability.

The art of data governance

Here are some tips for doing data governance right:

• Start with a manageable workload, creating a good data governance foundation that will scale with you as you grow.
• Put together a team that’s educated and equipped to effectively manage your data governance program.
• Be clear about what you want to achieve with your data rules by setting clear goals and communicating them to your team.
• Foster a culture of open communication with external partners and stakeholders keeping everyone in the loop about what’s going on with your data.
• Integrate data governance policies into every department of your company to ensure a collaborative approach to data management.
• Mitigate risks by identifying vulnerabilities in your data management program and dealing with them before they become issues.
• Review completed projects to identify what worked and what didn’t, so you can apply this knowledge to future undertakings.
• Regularly evaluate and assess your data rules in order to keep your data management up to date and responsive to your company’s needs.

Not sure how to create a data governance plan? Claritech can help. Download our checklist here.

Still have questions? Please contact us for advice about your data governance and data management programs.