Data Governance vs. Data Management

Data Governance vs. Data Management
What You Need to Know

Having a plan for keeping data safe within your organization is essential. A framework for who has access is also crucial. Learn more about data governance.  

You already know that having a plan for keeping data safe within your organization is highly important. But do you have a framework for who has access to that data and the reasons as to why they would need to access it?

There’s been a lot of talks lately about data governance practices, but not everyone is quite familiar with them. Here’s what you need to know about the difference between data governance versus data management.

What is Data Management?

Data management is an overall term for the process of planning, collecting, storing, protecting, and retrieving data information. This is your broader scope for how your organization keeps information, whether that be as simple as customer names and addresses or as delicate as medical data.

Data management is highly important in that we live in an era where so much information is exchanged daily. If your company utilizes any computer system to collect data on customers, competitors, markets, or virtually anything else, you are required to protect that information.

What is Data Governance?

Technically speaking, data governance is a portion of data management. It is a process for determining which individuals in an organization have authority and control over data assets and how those assets may be used accordingly.

It includes any instance where you restrict certain information from some employees while giving consent to others. For example, implementing a policy and framework where only top-level managers can see sensitive customer contact information would be considered data governance.

Why Does Data Governance Matter?

There are numerous reasons why data governance matters to your business. However, the most pressing is the level of trust. Customers trust that you’re going to keep their information safe and free from any data breach. You believe that your employees will do what is right and maintain that information confidential.

If a rogue employee decides to break that trust, you could lose more than just a few pieces of sensitive information. Data breaches cost companies billions of dollars each year in the form of damaged reputations and required reparations to customers who have had personal data leaked. Thus, it is vital to have a robust data governance plan to keep certain types of information out of the hands of individual employees.

How Do You Create a Solid Data Governance Plan?

While no data governance plan is one hundred percent foolproof, having one in place helps create a buffer where there’s less likely a chance of something happening. Building a healthy data governance plan starts with a robust framework. In most cases, this framework includes:

• Data architecture
• Data modeling and design
• Data storage and operations
• Data security
• Data integration and interoperability
• Documents and content
• Reference and master data
• Data warehousing and business intelligence (BI
• Metadata
• Data quality

By addressing each of these categories and carefully determining who has access to each one, you can easily create a data governance policy for your business that protects all sensitive information.

Should You Work with an Outside Provider for Data Management?

Working with a firm that understands best practices set forth by the Data Management Association International (DAMA) ensures that you are meeting all of the appropriate guidelines for data governance. Most technology companies offering IT solutions can take a look at your current system and help you determine any areas where there is a lacking sense of data governance. Thus, it is imperative to have outside help instead of just relying on your internal team.

In short, it is important to remember data governance as part of your overall data management strategy. Deciding who has access to information is almost as important as protecting your system from potential hacks or other flaws, and you shouldn’t delay in addressing this issue.

Are you ready to improve your data management and data governance policies? Our team at SemTech IT Solutions is here to help. Please contact us today for further details.