Data governance is one of the most important aspects of modern businesses. They need to have a structure in place to access, share, and utilize data. But many companies are still hampered by myths and outdated technology with regards to data governance. They simply do not know how to govern their own data and cannot set up the approaches required to handle data in a safe, sensible way. Overcoming these myths is essential for companies to start to build effective data governance systems.
Passwords must be indecipherable
One of the foundational myths about what is data governance in the past few years has been surrounding passwords. Governance covers the use and establishment of passwords within an organization. But a large number of people have one of two opinions about passwords. They think that passwords can be incredibly simple or must be ridiculously complicated.
The more savvy password users require passwords to be comprised of long stretches of indecipherable text. These forms of passwords are difficult to remember and require special software to store and remember. Therefore, many people abandon it as an approach and instead use the most simple password formulations possible.
Instead, it is more important than a company implements a password system that involves knowledge that only an employee may know. They can use whole words, numbers, and symbols. They should utilize passwords that are saved in safe, encrypted technologies. But these passwords can be easy to remember. They just need to be passwords that cannot easily be guessed by hackers.
One person must be in charge
Another myth of what is data governance is that it centers around one particular person. The idea is that there must be a data governor who makes decisions regarding technology, access, and security as well as passwords and organization. This decision is rendered so important to the health and future of the company that it is usually claimed by the president or some other chief officer. That person does not have the time or training to implement an effective data management strategy and it therefore flounders.
Instead, a company should usually implement a data governance team. This team is comprised of data professionals from within the company, people from accounting, and at least one member of senior management. They know what technology and systems are needed and how much money is allocated in the yearly budget for making these purchases.
The senior member of management is necessary to help fit data governance into the company’s overall strategy. He or she can be enormously helpful when selling the president or the rest of the company on whatever difficult data governance decisions are being made by the people at the top.
Bylaws cannot be changed
There is a certain level of rigidity in data governance structures. Companies think that they have to set up a governance structure and keep it for years or decades. They establish procedures for saving passwords and organizing data that are rigid and structured. These systems cause a wide variety of problems. Companies grow and take on new businesses.
They introduce new structures and bring in consultants and outside executives. Some companies are purchased or introduce an entirely new technology suite. All of these issues can make a data governance system obsolete. It can keep employees from accessing the data that is necessary for them to do their jobs. It can also keep in place inefficient structures and outdated pieces of software.
In order to avoid these pitfalls, one of the most important steps that a company can take is to implement a formal review process. The data governance structure should be reviewed by the data governance team on a yearly basis. There also needs to be a review performed if there are any inherent problems that emerge in the data field.
Problems may include a significant data breach or the loss of patient or customer data in a significant event. The review could lead to subtle or major changes in a data governance system. They may be tweaked in order to better meet the needs of the company and its present business structure.
Conclusion
Thousands of companies need to get a hold of their data governance structures. They need new technology, new procedures, and new employees who are experts in the data field. Some of them need an entirely new culture that prioritizes the use of data technology and a robust approach to keeping data safe and accessible.
These companies must be flexible and implement all of the latest information and data science. They also need to avoid the myriad of myths associated with their profession. This approach is the only way that they will be able to use a data governance system to solve their many problems and eventually use their data in the most efficient way possible.