Why you need to identify the right Data Owners for Data Governance Success…and how to do it

15 Sept

In my last article, I talked about the importance of putting people at the centre of your Data Governance Framework.

After all, data governance is all about the interaction of People, Process and Technology. I’ve found, though, that the People element is not only the hardest to get right, but also the most important.

I want to expand on this here and talk about the importance of the role of data owner.

Key Roles

We all know by now that the typical data governance framework contains a number of key roles. Amongst them are the following:

· Data Consumer: responsible for using the data according to agreed standards

· Data Custodian: responsible for ensuring that data is held securely

· Data Steward: SME on the data within their domain

These are important roles - no doubt.

But the lynchpin of any effective framework is the role of the Data Owner.

Data Governance, fundamentally, is concerned with ensuring that the business take responsibility for their data.

The role of Data Owner is pivotal in making this happen.

What does an Owner do?

Put simply, the Data Owner should take responsibility for a specific data domain. This should include the following:

· Stipulating the data standards

· Data Quality issue management

· Active advocacy for maintaining quality

· Appointing data stewards to monitor the data

· Decision-making over changes to the data within the domain

To fulfil this shopping list, the owner needs to be sufficiently senior and able to act with authority.

They need to be a change agent.

I’ve worked in some organisations where owners have been selected as part of a box-ticking exercise and were simply not senior enough or just didn’t care.

Either way, they were not able to effect change or make the positive impact that effective data governance will yield.

In a similar vein, I’ve often observed that data governance, for many organisations, merely consists of a series of policies and standards that are locked away, only to see the light of day when the auditors or regulators come knocking.

The reason? The data owners were not doing their job - or were not able to.

They were not acting as change agents.

It’s not necessarily an attempt at deliberate sabotage.

It’s just that everyone has competing demands and data governance is not top of the list.

Clearly, identifying and nurturing the right data owners is fundamental to releasing the potential of data governance in your organisation.

The question is…how do you do this?

How to identify your data owners

Some organisations mandate that the producer of the data should be its owner. On the surface, this does seem to make a lot of sense.

Surely the person responsible for producing the finished product should take responsibility for it?

But here’s where this breaks down.

Very often, the producer of the data does not consume it. In most financial services organisations, for example, the key data flows start with those selling the products; the traders, underwriters, brokers etc. But they don’t consume most of what they are responsible for capturing.

Their interest is primarily in their revenue targets; not the quality of downstream data quality.

Why should they take responsibility for something that they don’t have any interest in?

Whilst you can mandate that they must take responsibility for accurate data capture, it’s likely to be an uphill struggle.

Capacity for Change

Here’s the challenge.

Policy statements, such as the one above, don’t really take into account the individuals in your organisation and their capacity for change.

This is why I have said previously that there is no “best in class” framework. The best in class is actually like a good suit; tailored to your organisation and the people within it.

If your people feel that data governance is something that is being done to them, you will struggle to drive their engagement.

So you need to take a careful look at the people in your organisation before you think about who can take on the role of owner.

Specifically, you need to understand the following:

· Interest: What interest do they have in the data?

· Control: What degree of control do they currently have?

· Change: What is their capacity, as individuals, for change?

Whilst all of these factors are important, it’s probably the last point that I put the most weight on.

I can find people who have a stake in the data and are sufficiently senior to effect change; but if their capacity for change is lacking, they are probably not a good prospect.

Implementing a Data Governance initiative is an exercise in change management. If the capacity for change is low, it’s unlikely that your initiative will be a success.

Data Usage Assessment

When I’m brought into an organisation, one of the first things I do is conduct a Data Usage Assessment.

This assessment is just a fact-finding exercise to enable me to understand who’s doing what with data.

Here’s the template I use which I’ve populated with some examples from the insurance industry.

As well as providing me with an understanding of how data is being used and by which functional areas, I also record my thoughts on the capacity for change of those involved.

To assess this, I will generally be looking for the following:

· Degree of engagement

· What they are hoping to achieve from the initiative

· Whether their voice is respected within the organisation

· Whether they are currently struggling with data quality issues

The entire exercise provides a huge amount of rich information about:

· How the organisation works

· who is currently touching data, either as a producer or consumer

But it’s the soft information that is critical to rounding my analysis off and enabling me to start broaching the topic of ownership; that is who the key people are within the organisation and what motivates them.

What’s in it for me?

When initiating these conversations, at the forefront of my mind is to understand what “hooks” are at my disposal.

It’s important to remember that you will not effect changes in behaviour unless you appeal to what people want. So you need to be very mindful of the what’s in it for me mentality.

Specifically, before having any conversation about ownership, you need to ask yourself what would be in it for this individual.

If you can’t think of anything, then they’re probably not the right person.

But, if you can see benefits for them, then you have probably identified a prospective owner. You now need to sell them on it by explaining those benefits.

Why would someone want to become a Data Owner?

Sometimes, the individual, or their area, is struggling with data quality issues. Taking on the formal role of owner might enable them to better tackle these issues.

That’s a hook.

I’ve seen this work in many organisations. The people with the most to gain from good data are often the most engaged owners.

Sometimes, you can appeal to their career aspirations. Whilst a Sales Director may have no real interest in 90% of the data created, a Data Governance implementation being championed by the Board may be their opportunity to get noticed by taking on this role. You shouldn’t be afraid of dropping this into conversations to see where it leads!

The Need for Nurturing Your Owners

Don’t forget that identifying your owners is only part of the battle.

Once you’ve identified your prospects, you need to nurture them. You need to help them navigate what you’re asking them to do.

In the next article, we’ll look at how you can nurture your owners into transformation agents within your organisation.

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Navin Ahuja