Why are data management and data governance important for your organization?

There are many organizations that manage their data quite well. Аnd on the other hand – others that either do not pay so much attention on data management, or they know it needs improvement, but are not motivated enough to take actions in this direction.

What is data management?

The Data Management Book of Knowledge describes data management as “the planning, execution, and oversight of policies, practices and projects that acquire, control, protect, deliver, and enhance the value of data and information assets.” It gained significance with the development of electronics and the field of data processing. However, the methods of data management have roots in statistics, accounting, logistical planning, etc., which precede the beginning of corporate computing in mid-20th century.

The practice of data management includes various methods and disciplines which support and carry through the whole complex management process. Some of them are:

• • Data governance
  • Data architecture
  • Business analytics
  • Data quality management
  • Data modeling
  • Business intelligence
  • Data warehousing
  • Data security management

Benefits of data management

Establishing a good data management program can really transform all the departments and lines of business. It has a positive effect on the use of data assets. It also improves operations management, regulations, control, security and privacy. Furthermore, the accomplished consistency across all organizational processes leads to better collaboration and technical alignment. This on the other hand generates more effective marketing and sales and a revenue growth.

Data governance and data management

We can talk about data management and data governance together, but we need to have in mind that data governance is only one of the above-mentioned disciplines that form the whole management process. Data management can be defined as the logistics of data, while data governance is the strategy of data. Data governance is the core component of data management and it ties together all the other disciplines that data management comprises.

Needless to say, data governance is a requirement in today’s highly competitive enterprise environment. Organizations have the opportunities to capture large amounts of data and they need a system to reduce costs, manage risks, increase revenues, etc.

Data governance establishes the processes which ensure the quality and security of the data. It creates a plan that ensures data accuracy and consistency. Another notable benefit is that it gives a clear picture of the location of all data related to key entities. Last but not least, data governance provides a platform for meeting the requirements of government regulations. It ensures correct regulation and compliance procedures.

It would be correct to say that nowadays data governance (and data management, of course) is not a matter of option. In fact, it is a must for every organization dealing with large amounts of data. Managing and proper usage of the information across an organization is what leads to success. Data governance ensures that the data is trusted, secure, compliant and easy to find within your organization. So, data management and data governance are not one and the same thing, neither conceptually, nor practically, but both of them are essential for the successful use of data in an organization.

You can increase the value of the data you possess by simply putting it to use. If you want to know how, check out the data governance related services that Latona offers or contact us directly.