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CHAPTER

Road map

12

Revolutions always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions.
dTerry Pratchett

The “Road Map” for DG is the penultimate work product for the DG program. That is, aside from the
operating program itself, it is the most important output from the DG team’s deployment efforts. It also
forms the foundation for the sustainability of DG.
Almost any organization that has used automation for information processing has tried to do
something formal to manage that information. We have said several times that the management of
information already happens in organizations, but it just happens poorly. The road map process,
therefore, must not only produce the list of events required to deploy DG, it must also provide an
outline for success and sustainability.
Sustainability means acting to ensure that the right processes are in place by which the DG
organizational framework will continue to perform the governance function. Core to this requirement
is the overlooked fact that the organization accepts the governance of datadthat the function be
managed, its results be monitored and measured, and the obstacles that so often cause DG programs to
falter or fail are overcome. In our experience, very few organizations think ahead about what needs to
happen one or two years down the road.
Measuring change adoption and managing the required behavior changes are only a few pieces of
the puzzle. Other critical components include developing and measuring the metrics that reinforce
DG’s value, having clear principles and policies documented and in place, and verifying that the
organization has the resources required to support DG after it is rolled out.
You will need to put in place a formal organizational change management (OCM) program to drive
the required behavior changes needed to sustain DG in your organization. The formality and discipline
inherent in data governance is new and different for many organizationsdand difference means
change. Change requires that people adjust their behaviors to the new way of doing things, and
changing behavior is no easy taskdjust ask those of us who make (and break) those New Year’s
resolutions every year! It won’t happen just because you say it will or believe it’s the right thing to do.
People naturally resist change because they are afraid of it; afraid it will be hard, or they will fail in the
new world, or lose somethingdpower, competence, or influencedto name a few. You will have to
overcome that resistance in order for DG to be successful and adopted by the organization. That formal
OCM program, with the right executive sponsor, is critical to helping you accomplish that.
Organizational change management is a well-known discipline within the realm of organizational
effectiveness. It can be thought of in three basic steps:
1. PlanningdAssessing the need for change and developing the approach and detailed plan to
manage change.
Data Governance. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-415829-0.00012-5 141
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