Data Governance for free?!
By 
I had a conversation earlier this week with a consulting firm in the Seattle area. She expressed some concern to me that many of her clients were foregoing a data governance program because of the cost. “Why do they think that is costs too much? Don’t they understand that it will cost so much more to NOT have a data governance program?” I understand that in the heat of budget negotiations you make concessions that you never really intended to make. I have been there, holding my pet project close to my vest while sacrificing other equally important projects.
Data governance is one of those aspects of a BI program that is very hard to do a cost benefit analysis for. Most organizations don’t really know they need it until they are experiencing some type of data issue. But, I think we are missing something here that seems like a rather obvious solution. Perhaps, data governance should be free. I know that I have talked in the past about structuring your governance program after our government system. So, the in-tuned reader will challenge how anything set up like our government could be free. I believe there are three key aspects of a good data governance program:
1. Communication
2. Communication
3. Communication
And, theoretically, communication is free. My recommendation is this: Communicate as much as you can about your data. Set up committees made up of volunteers that know the data, which will be your stewardship council. Use Microsoft Excel as your primary tool and keep track of all that is successfully addressed (and avoided) as a result of this rather informal structure. There is still cost associated with this method, because it still requires someone’s time, but it is certainly better than nothing. With any luck, the value you provide will be rewarded with a budget next year.
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