Weird Lessons about Data Governance

Lessons I didn’t read in a Book of Knowledge

Data black markets within an organization drive data policy.

Any organization large enough to have a centralized data source is bound to have a data black market that has sprung up around that source. This is especially true if there aren’t meaningful governance strategies already in place.

Maybe it’s a ‘sideload’ of ‘just a quick analysis of recent trends’ that someone bumps up against the data warehouse data, but it will quickly escalate into ‘all of our membership eligibility needs this Excel spreadsheet that Marcos does.’ Maybe it’s an Access database. Regardless of what it is, it’s sent via email attachments and departmental drives, and sooner or later, it will become a bottleneck for a key decision-maker.

Often the black market is even powerful enough to strangle fledgling data governance efforts. Newly-incepted governance strategies will often slow the data supply chain (much to everyone’s chagrin), and those with the data (power) will halt support of the project due to pressing timelines. Many governance programs have wilted and floundered due to such frustrations at the early stage.

Counteract the damage a data black market can do by instead bring these citizen data developers into the fold. It is vital that consideration on how to integrate governance strategies into all areas where data creation and development occur to be given early in governance…