August 5, 2011
Although much effort has been spent on describing organizational
structures for data governance committees, their effectiveness
is limited by the absence of well-defined policies and operational
procedures that guide the integration of data governance and
control within day-to-day processes. Individuals tasked with data
stewardship responsibilities may become hesitant to embark on
a list of specific actions if they begin to interfere with existing
responsibilities. Periodic meetings are planned, but agendas
are unstructured in the absence of clearly defined performance
objectives for operationalization. Data governance meetings
eventually peter out, leaving data stewards to operate in a silo,
making assumptions and guessing on data policies and processes.
Attaining a sustainable data governance capability relies on defining
cross-organizational processes for defining data oversight policies,
processes for monitoring data policies, and enforcing compliance.
This TDWI Checklist Report details recommendations that connect
high-level policies to specific actions, and shows the ways that
data governance tasks can be integrated into existing operational
processes. Following the items on this Checklist will energize
your data governance program and ensure its integration within
operational workflows.