Data governance is a control that ensures that data entry by a business user or an automated process meets business standards. It manages a variety of things including availability, usability, accuracy, integrity, consistency, completeness, and security of data usage. Through data governance, organizations are able to exercise positive control over the processes and methods to handle data.
Data governance also describes the evolutionary process for a company, changing the company’s way of thinking and setting up the processes to handle information so that it can be utilized by the entire organization. It also includes using technology when necessary in many forms to help drive the process. When companies want to gain control of their data, they empower their people, set up processes, and seek help from technology to do it.
Some goals of data governance include:
Increasing consistency and confidence in decision-making
Decreasing the risk of regulatory fines
Improving data security
Maximizing the income generation potential of data
Designating accountability for information quality
Enabling better planning by supervisory staff
Minimizing or eliminating re-work
Optimizing staff effectiveness
Establishing performance baselines to allow improvement efforts
Acknowledging and holding all gain
