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38 CHAPTER 4 The data governance business case

e-discovery and document management. It is where organizations drastically reduce cost and risk of
document handling by simply implementing better governance.

Identify Usage Opportunities

The indirect benefits come from efforts where information is used as a means to deliver a business
result, such as a data warehouse. In these cases, DG can help ensure a consistent and relevant result.
If there is a large customer MDM effort tied to some sort of customer program, then your DG effort
supplies the required governance to the new MDM policies, standards, and processes.

Define Business Benefits and Risks-Management Benefits

Refine the potential benefits in terms of not only a perceived high-level number, but also in terms of
cash flow or earnings increase. In addition, describe specific risks. Look for risk across the three risk
typesdregulatory, civil, and financial.

Confirm

Confirm business benefits you have identified to ensure they are supported by DG. Make sure you do
not attempt to support something that is not relevant.
Quantify Costs

Examine current costs of IT as well as other information-related costs. Include all capital costs,
depreciation, and overhead. Any analysis of the cost of poor data quality should be factored in here as
well. Include costs of departmental end-use databases, spreadsheets, and departmental “mini IT
departments.” This is a good beginning cost number. It points out how much is being spent now,
without governance. The actual cost of governance should be a small fraction of current costs. Ideally,
you will use internal resources. Most of the time we initially see a small increase in costs for some
consultants or for training, but as DG becomes part of the enterprise, costs will return to prior levels.

Prepare the Business Case Documentation

Apply the various financial benefits and costs to whatever model is used or selected by your organi-
zation; then present the results in whatever format is palatable. Make sure you keep it business-like.
Approach Considerations

Many, if not most, companies do a horrible job disseminating their business plans, and that assumes
they actually have one. My company(s) has executed dozens of EIM-like engagements over the past 20
years. Few of these companies had a business vision or strategy that was readily available to the very
people whose job it was to ensure those plans could be measured. Often the EIM effort would trigger
an embarrassing fumbling in a cabinet during an interview and a strategic plan would be produced.
Organizations that do publicize their strategies and push this information to all levels tend to have