Page 195 -

174 CHAPTER 15 Final remarks

enterprise information management. DG sets the rules and processes. Information management carries
out the defined processes. It’s important to keep the governing and managing of data separate. This
leverages the concept of separation of duties. Your go-to analogy is that DG is to IM as accounting
standards are to finance.
E for EnterprisedData governance should never be considered as a project feature. It is an
enterprise program. The context of all DG discussions needs to be from an enterprise view. The rollout
is iterative, and each deployment is different. But the ultimate goal must be a level of enterprise-level
adoption.
Data governance is a business programdDG is never an IT program. It exists to provide the roles,
rules, and controls for the data assets. It must be applied across the board to everyone in the
organization.
Evolution vs. RevolutiondYou need to learn how to govern. From the executive councils down to
the operational activity, you must realize that behavior changes and education moves from the top to
the bottom.
Data governance means changedTop-to-bottom behavior changes require formal management
via an organizational change management program (OCM). This is not really an option. Pursuing DG
means you are not satisfied with what is going on. Something has to be different. Different equals
change. So why not manage the change to the benefit of all the stakeholders? Formal OCM has been
around for a long time. Allow OCM to work for your own DG effort.

THE VALUE OF DATA GOVERNANCE

At this point in time, the value of DG is either perceived as a traditional return on investment (a la
a project) or as a program that is required for the success of other programs or processes. This situation
makes the statement of value for DG difficult. You can place the operation of DG into a model where
a hard ROI is generated. But that is not a long-term number. The generation of a longer-term value
requires the acceptance of DG as a program, and so the team must sell this to management.
With this in mind, the DG deployment team must create a business case and overcome these
obstacles. If not, there will be no foundation for measuring success. A strong sponsor is important, but
you must have the means to prove to the sponsor that it is working.
The team needs to examine business opportunities and look for every opportunity to educate
management on the importance of managing information as an asset. This will also address any long-
term animosity between the business and IT.

THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

For some reason, three critical success factors are important to people. So here are the three most
important success factors (out of many that we have covered).
1. DG needs to be set up to disappeardnot vanish or stop, but to melt into the fabric of the organization.
The DG “organization” is not a stand-alone department. Everyone must do governance once it is
adopted.