Data is the most important asset that an organization possesses. And data governance helps to ensure that this fundamental asset is accessible, governable and protected. Effective data governance enables companies to better leverage their digital analytics to facilitate decision-making and support the data needs of teams across the organization.   

Today’s data governance is about liberating the flow of information within a company. It’s about driving competitive advantage – giving all your collaborators the freedom to seamlessly practice the management and coordination of data and processes – and enabling collaboration and compliant access to data. Proactive and effective data governance allows you to create value from data assets even under the legitimate and necessary constraints and accountability associated with security and privacy. It helps you boost your business agility simply and effortlessly while ensuring that you’re following all internal and external policies.

Data governance is not just about control and data protection, but also about enablement and insights. An optimized approach to governance is essential to any business in 2021 – and working with the right technology and services provider is the ultimate way to capture massive amounts of diverse internal and external data, and maximize that data’s value, manage its risks and reduce the cost of its management.

Data governance – the benefits for organizations

The need for companies to govern their data efficiently and seamlessly is more relevant than ever before. As digital transformation gains momentum, the ability for businesses to leverage data is now a definitive gamechanger. Here’s how analytics-enabled data governance can boost the efficiency of your organization:

Govern the increasing number of touchpoints and diverse customer journeys

With the rise of IoT and the ever-expanding number of smart devices and applications, the amount of data that is created, stored and streamed within the customer experience landscape is only set to surge. This, in turn, leads to progressively diverse and complex user journeys.

Analytics-enabled data governance is key to supporting a wide range of organizational teams in learning more about their customers, fully comprehending their needs and mastering how they can tailor interactions across the full scope of touchpoints. 

Onboard business tools specific to each company department

Adequate tools or technology accessible by the teams that need them are required to transform data into action via seamless Data Governance.  These can include reporting BI tools for financial planning, budgeting and performance management processes, querying tools and self-service business reports, as well as analytics tools.

Safeguard against increasing privacy regulations (CNIL, GDPR, etc.)

With the ongoing implementation of data privacy regulations across the globe and potential reputational and financial damage that can be incurred from a data breach, privacy compliance is critical for any governance program. Privacy-centric data governance empowers companies to document the basis for lawful processing, and define policies, roles and responsibilities for the access, management, security and use of personal data.

Handle consent and the end of third-party cookies

The need to collect user consent and the impending deprecation of third-party cookies are also having a major impact on the amount of data that can be reliably collected. Organizations face the challenge of being able to obtain truly reliable and exhaustive data. A governance program allows them to more efficiently analyze their consent opt-in rates and act accordingly.

Offset the risks of data leakage and cybersecurity issues

By leveraging a centralized data governance strategy, companies can avoid the risks posed by cybersecurity due to inconsistent policies. Strong governance that recognizes and documents potential risks for data leakage allows management to gain a clear understanding of ongoing security issues and create a line of defense.

Our goal at Piano is to enable data governance evangelists across all business domains to generate the momentum they need to make governance an enterprise-wide priority. We aim to provide a framework for using data governance as a critical driver of your success, help you get the buy-in you need from the top to justify your investment and outline the considerations necessary when choosing a partner to help you orchestrate and implement your strategy.