Master Data Governance

Master data governance refers to the data management practices and protocols you set up around your master data management program. In other words, it includes any information your company needs to govern its master data effectively.  Having carefully curated rules for its management and handling can mean the difference between valuable insights and hefty fines from compliance organizations.

Now that we've established what master data governance is and why it's important, let's cover some common challenges.

  • Data quality issues. Data quality issues can stop progress and slow developments enterprise wide. You must use MDM and DQ tools to mitigate these issues, maintain high data integrity, and understand the root cause their existence to support setting up governance rules.

  • Siloed data. One of the best parts about MDM is eliminating data siloes so everyone at the organization who needs to can access this data. Data governance tools and principles should bolster this process by encouraging communication and collaboration between data teams.

  • Compliance regulations. Depending on your location, you might have compliance protocols to uphold.  An organization’s governance practices must adhere to these external regulations.

  • Lack of stakeholder alignment. It's hard to get anything done without support from decision-makers. Make sure everyone understands the value of MDM and having it governed effectively.

If these challenges aren't addressed and you end up with a poorly thought-out or ad-hoc master data governance program, your company and its data could suffer the consequences. Inadequately handled master data governance can lead to using poor quality data in vulnerable/valuable places and uninformed or misguided decision-making.

Best practices for effective master data governance, and mitigate these challenges include:

  • Establish clear data governance policies and procedures

  • Implementing data quality management processes

  • Adopting data stewardship roles and responsibilities

  • Automation and scalability

  • Encourage collaboration between business users and IT stakeholders

    Below are the first steps to take on your master data governance journey:

  • Create a roadmap for master data governance implementation

  • Develop a robust framework tailored to organizational needs

  • Leverage data governance tools and platforms

  • Integrating master data governance with broader data management initiatives