Navigating the Organization to Ensure Data Governance - Data Governance: Creating Value from Information Assets - page 20

INTRODUCTION
In today's increasingly digital environment, organizations are informa-
tion-aggressive. They routinely collect, analyze, and use information in
key areas relating to customers, products, changes in the business envi-
ronment, and other areas. Information is recognized and understood to
be an important strategic resource and asset in advancing organizational
goals. Organizations recognize that for surviving and growing in this
highly competitive and digital environment, controlling all aspects of data
and information is essential. Organizations are increasingly realizing the
inherent value of their data as they exploit the services offered by cloud
computing. Data governance facilitates an organization in taking control
of its data resources. The need for data governance has risen as the neces-
sity to coordinate, control, and manage all aspects of data in an enterprise
has grown. Data governance is a convergence of several areas concerned
with data, such as data management, data security, data administration,
and data quality.
Data governance initiatives are funded in diverse manners within dif-
ferent organizations, such as out of operational budgets. In some cases, it
is a one-off executive decision. Sometimes the costs are buried in different
departments within the organization, e.g., information technology (to buy
software tools to support data quality), sales, or planning. Data governance
is not a one-time project, but an ongoing exercise of continuous improve-
ment and, therefore, requires continued support in the organization.
Understanding the readiness of the organization for data governance is
the first step in the implementation of data governance in an organization.
Certain parts of the organization are more ready than others. Data gov-
ernance must be a business-driven program that uses a data governance
maturity model to build a strategic road map. Apart from strong executive
sponsorship (working across the dimensions of people), process, technology,
and information are critical to the success of the data governance program.
DATA GOVERNANCE MATURITY MODELS
Data governance is usually a part of the enterprise-wide governance
program. A lack of proper data governance can lead to costs for the