Clarifying the Distinction Between Data Governance Roles and Titles
In data governance programs, titles such as data steward, business data steward, data owner, and technical data steward are commonly used to describe specific roles. These titles often reflect distinct responsibilities, yet their interpretations and applications can differ significantly between organizations. This inconsistency stems from the absence of standardized definitions, making it challenging to establish a shared understanding across enterprises. Despite this variability, these titles convey important meanings within the context of enterprise data management.
Unfortunately, many organizations fail to use these titles correctly, leading to misalignment in responsibilities and governance practices. The misuse often stems from treating titles as interchangeable or neglecting the unique functions they represent. To maximize the effectiveness of a data governance program, it is essential for organizations to adopt a consistent framework that aligns titles with clearly defined roles, ensuring a unified approach to data management and accountability.
The titles “data steward ”, “data owner”, “data manager” often are considered to be synonyms, but they are in fact different roles. They denote very different responsibilities, skills and expectations for performance.
Figure 1 – Example Data Governance Organizational Structure
Key Stakeholders and Initiators in Data Governance
A successful data governance initiative typically begins at the executive level, often spearheaded by the Chief Information Officer (CIO). The CIO plays a pivotal role in aligning data governance goals with organizational objectives and ensuring that all necessary resources are allocated.
Additionally, Data Governance Councils or Committees are formed, consisting of representatives from various departments, such as IT, finance, operations, and marketing. These councils are responsible for overseeing data quality, implementing governance policies, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.
Key Responsibilities in Data Governance:
Data Custodians : Focus on the security and storage of data, ensuring that data assets are protected and accessible.Data Analysts : Perform data analysis to support decision-making and derive insights from data.Data Users : Business users who leverage data to extract value for their specific departments or business units.Public Information Officers : Communicate data of interest to external stakeholders, ensuring transparency and accessibility.
These stakeholders collaborate to uphold data governance efforts, addressing issues such as data quality, access control, and data accuracy across the organization. By involving a diverse set of roles, data governance becomes a collaborative effort that enhances data management and organizational performance.
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Structure of a Successful Data Governance Program
An effective enterprise data governance structure establishes clarity in roles and responsibilities while promoting collaboration across the organization. Clearly defining governance roles and responsibilities is essential to ensure that each team member understands their specific duties and how they contribute to the overall data governance framework. The Data Governance Committee serves as the central body, overseeing all governance activities, ensuring compliance, and addressing data quality issues. This committee works alongside the Data Policy Committee, which often includes senior executives to provide high-level sponsorship and align the governance initiative with organizational goals.
To support ongoing data governance efforts, Data Steward Working Groups are established to resolve critical data issues at the operational level. These groups collaborate with data administrators and data users to maintain data integrity while ensuring smooth access to specific data assets. Additionally, the Data Governance Office plays a pivotal role in supporting these groups by providing oversight and managing key governance policies.
Key Governance Responsibilities:
Data Governance Coordinator: Drives the agenda, ensuring governance initiatives are integrated into daily operations.
Data Request Review Board: Manages data sharing , handling data access requests, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
By implementing this structured approach, organizations can resolve data issues efficiently while maintaining consistency, security, and governance across their data systems.
Executive Level
The executive level plays a crucial role in data governance, as they are responsible for setting the overall direction and strategy for the organization’s data governance program. This includes defining the organization’s data governance vision, mission, and objectives, as well as allocating resources and budget for data governance initiatives.
Executive-level data governance responsibilities include:
Defining the organization’s data governance strategy and vision.
Allocating resources and budget for data governance initiatives.
Ensuring data governance is aligned with business objectives.
Providing oversight and guidance for data governance initiatives.
Ensuring data governance policies and procedures are in place and enforced.
By establishing a clear vision and allocating the necessary resources, executives ensure that data governance initiatives are well-supported and aligned with the organization’s strategic goals. Their oversight and guidance are critical for the successful implementation and sustainability of the data governance program.
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Tactical and Operational Levels
The tactical and operational levels of data governance are responsible for implementing and executing the data governance strategy defined by the executive level. This includes developing and implementing data governance policies, procedures, and standards, as well as ensuring data quality and security.
Tactical and operational data governance responsibilities include:
Developing and implementing data governance policies, procedures, and standards.
Ensuring data quality and security.
Managing data access and permissions.
Monitoring and reporting on data governance metrics.
Identifying and addressing data quality issues.
These levels are where the day-to-day activities of data governance take place. By focusing on the practical aspects of data management, such as data quality and security, the tactical and operational teams ensure that the organization’s data assets are well-maintained and accessible to authorized users.
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Data Governance Roles and Titles Data Governance Practice Manager / Leader
Data Governance Practice Manager / Leader is responsible for the operation of the data governance practice and its implementation in the organization. He or she has operational oversight of all activities associated with data governance and alignment with the data stewardship bodies. This includes chairmanship of the Data Governance Council, participation in the Data Stewardship Coordinating Group, oversight of the data governance team budget, the training and education of involved members of the organization concerning data governance and data stewardship, etc. A good Data Governance Practice Manager can make a practice effective, and the absence of a good Practice Manager can doom an effort. This person must be an experienced data governance and data management professional with demonstrated leadership skills.
Data Governance Specialist
Data Governance Specialist is a data governance and data management professional who is part of the Data Governance team / practice, and reports to the Data Governance Practice Manager. Each specialist is responsible for a portion of the duties of the unit, which usually include policy and process development and enhancement, meeting management and coordination, data governance and data stewardship education and training, project work with the data stewards, etc… Each Data Governance Practice team should be staffed with an adequate number of specialists to support the work of the program across the organization.
Data Stewards
Data Stewards are business people who have been charged with the formation and execution of policies for the management of data and metadata – usually in a particular focus area: finance, operations, marketing, human resources, underwriting, etc. Depending on the level of the individual steward, he or she may be responsible for advising the organization on governance of categories of data, on definition of data and its usage, and on the implementation of data governance policies through the activities of stewards and data managers. The stewards are responsible for the quality of data and metadata that is part of their functional area, and work to ensure that the data governance policies are focused at the enterprise level. Most organizations have several data stewards for each major functional area, while some smaller functional areas may share one steward.
Lead Data Stewards
Lead Data Stewards are those data stewards who are given responsibility for the overall management of the stewardship function for a particular area. They manage the stewardship activities of the data stewards in their area; sometimes they are responsible for the data stewardship of one or more sections of that area. Unlike line management, data stewards and their lead data stewards do not have a direct reporting relationship to the data governance program. Rather they remain in their business area while serving on project teams to address data issues under the guidance of the data governance program. All the lead data stewards of an organization comprise the data stewardship coordinating group , where decisions that affect the data management of more than one functional area, or the entire enterprise, are made.
Who leads the lead data stewards? Many organizations have called the leader of the lead stewards the chief data steward , as the “first among equals” in the lead stewards’ role. The Chief Data Steward represents all the data stewards at executive / leadership meetings and is a peer in data matters to the Data Governance Practice Manager / Leader.
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Data Managers
Data Managers may be referred to as “data custodians” and they play a role that is different from a data steward. A data manager or custodian is the person who implements the data delivery process in concert with the business representatives (the data stewards). Data custodians / managers advise on the technologies used in data management, and enable the user community to access and manipulate the data. In many organizations, they reside in Information Technology departments and have developed deep skills in technologies that support enterprise data management.
Data Owners
Data Owners are usually those business people who have direct line responsibility for a functional area. They are not stewards, but they work with the appointed stewards to ensure the correct definition and use of data and assist in the identification and management of data quality for their area. As leaders in the user community, they are part of the team that drives the data governance process, since the need for data governance should originate and be maintained in the business communit y. Often, these data owners are represent their area on the Data Governance Council and other data-related organizational bodies.
Data Custodians and Administrators
Data custodians and administrators play a critical role in data governance, as they are responsible for managing and maintaining the organization’s data assets. This includes ensuring data is accurate, complete, and secure, as well as providing access to data for authorized users.
Data custodian and administrator responsibilities include:
Managing and maintaining data assets.
Ensuring data is accurate, complete, and secure.
Providing access to data for authorized users.
Monitoring and reporting on data access and usage.
Identifying and addressing data quality issues.
By diligently managing data assets and ensuring their accuracy and security, data custodians and administrators help maintain the integrity of the organization’s data. Their role is vital in providing reliable data access and addressing any data quality issues that may arise.
Data Governance Council (DGC)
A Data Governance Council (DGC) is a cross-functional team responsible for overseeing the organization’s data governance program. The DGC is responsible for developing and implementing data governance policies, procedures, and standards, as well as ensuring data quality and security.
DGC responsibilities include:
Developing and implementing data governance policies, procedures, and standards.
Ensuring data quality and security.
Managing data access and permissions.
Monitoring and reporting on data governance metrics.
Identifying and addressing data quality issues.
The DGC serves as the central body that coordinates data governance efforts across the organization. By bringing together representatives from various departments, the DGC ensures that data governance policies are comprehensive and that data quality and security are maintained.
Best Practices for Data Governance Organization
Effective data governance requires a well-organized and structured approach. Here are some best practices for data governance organizations:
Establishing a Data Governance Council to oversee data governance activities and ensure alignment with organizational objectives.
Implementing data governance policies that address data quality, data access, and data security to protect specific data assets.
Developing a data governance framework that outlines key governance roles and responsibilities, including data stewards, data custodians, and data users.
Encouraging collaboration among data governance teams, business units, and technical teams to resolve data issues and ensure data consistency.
Providing ongoing training and education to data governance roles to enhance domain knowledge and ensure compliance with relevant regulations.
Utilizing data governance tools and technologies to support data integration, data storage, and access control.
Regularly reviewing and updating data governance policies to address emerging data governance issues and ensure data accuracy.
Importance of Clear Roles and Responsibilities
Clear roles and responsibilities are essential for successful data governance. This includes defining the responsibilities of data stewards, data custodians, and data administrators, as well as ensuring that each role has the necessary authority and resources to perform their duties.
Best practices for clear roles and responsibilities include:
Defining clear roles and responsibilities for data governance.
Ensuring each role has the necessary authority and resources.
Providing training and support for data governance roles.
Ensuring data governance roles are aligned with business objectives.
By following these best practices, organizations can ensure that their data governance program is well-organized and effective, and that data is accurate, complete, and secure. Clear roles and responsibilities help create a culture of accountability and collaboration, which is essential for the success of any data governance initiative.
Conclusion
In data governance and stewardship, developing and implementing the proper titles can demonstrate to the entire organization that data governance and stewardship have brought a new culture to the landscape. The use of the right titles can assist in developing a sustainable appreciation for the beneficial nature of enterprise data management throughout the organization.
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