Whatever the size of companies operating in current times, chances are that their IT departments are no longer the sole custodians of enterprise data. Business users everywhere have more and more access to various types of data and information from various sources. They need this data access in order to operate more efficiently and in order to be able to make decisions faster. They also want their data to be more portable, so that they can transfer it from one device to another easily, or share it with other users quickly and on-demand.
- Who owns various elements of data and information, and how do they interact and relate to each other?
- Is there more than one chief owner?
- Who are the authorized producers (or releasers) of data?
- Who are the approvers of those releases?
- Who are the reviewers and testers of data?
- Who can update data?
- Where will it be stored, and which downstream users have access it?
- From where will those users access it?
- When will they have access?
- What happens to released data that is manipulated locally?
- How are updates and versions controlled so that the right data is available at the right time?
- Do any business processes need to be tweaked in order to adapt to data needs and realities?
- What is the architecture philosophy to be followed?
- What combination of products and technology services/activities best provides the capabilities that the business need?
- What training and know-how do we need to use these products?
- What tools or apps should the business be dissuaded (if at all) from using because of known drawbacks that might impact them adversely?
- What modifications does the existing IT governance need?
- What new standards, guidelines and best practices should be created and made available for users who process data themselves?
While this is by no means an exhaustive list of questions, it is simply meant to provide some starting pointers to the paths that need to be traversed in order to ensure that enterprise data governance is ready for the new age of data democratization.