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40 CHAPTER 4 The data governance business case

their bonus or compensation is not tied to information managementerelated goals, forget it. The excitement is
political and amorphous. Often, it is merely lip service. It will not hold up to stress or business changes. When you
hear that a project has “lost” a sponsor, it is more likely that it never really had one in the first place.

The DG team needs to remember that there has to be a sales process of sorts, even if none is
requested. One sponsor does not make a successful program. This means examining business
opportunities, educating about the ramifications of managing information as an asset, and recognizing
that the long-term animosity between IT and business areas must be addressed with a business
program. Don’t forget there are challengers and naysayers out there. Stating a case with hard dollars
will slow down early resistance.