Data-Management

According to an analysis done in 2020 by Capgemini Research Lab to determine the usefulness of data mastery to financial performance, 39% of participating corporate leaders leveraged data-driven insights for a sustainable competitive edge. Interestingly, despite being a small percentage, these figures had a considerable benefit of 22% increased profitability.1 This can be you too with the help of effective data governance! 

Data governance technologies assist companies in efficiently managing, safeguarding, and using their data while ensuring that it complies with all necessary regulations and guidelines. Data governance solutions are essential for businesses trying to maximize their data assets and make sure they are being utilized efficiently and appropriately.

In this article, we’ll get to know what data governance is, why it is important, and the difference between data governance and data management. We’ll also get to know the examples of data governance and the eleven best tools you should be using to scale up in 2023. And finally, we’ll discuss things to consider before choosing a data governance tool. 

Need help mastering your data? At Capella, we have the solution to all your data needs. Contact us to discover how we can help you!

What Is Data Governance? 

Just like a government ‘governs’ or conducts the policies or affairs of a state, data governance does the same thing, but over data! Data governance establishes internal guidelines and rules governing how data is obtained, stored, accessed, and discarded in an enterprise system. The procedure makes sure that all changes are effectively communicated, recorded, and validated while also guaranteeing data integrity, availability, scalability, usability, security, and regulatory compliance. It specifies which data is regulated and to whom it is accessible. 

Consistent and reliable data are protected against misuse by effective data governance. As businesses are forced to comply with new data privacy laws and increasingly rely on data analytics to streamline operations and influence strategic business decisions, the need for effective data governance is becoming more and more crucial.

Why Is Data Governance Important?

Undoubtedly, data is an organization's most valuable resource. Here’s why !  A data governance system makes sure that all corporate data is in sync with the objectives of the firm. Additionally, it guarantees that all pertinent data is accessible for risk management, compliance, reporting, analytics, and decision-making.

Data governance is also important as it helps to avoid data discrepancies or inaccuracies, which can result in difficulties with integrity, mediocre judgment, and a number of organizational concerns.  Additionally, data governance also ensures that firms continuously comply with all levels of regulatory obligations which is essential for lowering operational expenses and minimizing vulnerabilities.

This If you need more convincing to discover the importance of data governance? We have a more in depth  blog post stacked with all the information you need! 

What is the Difference Between Data Governance and Data Management?

In the simplest words possible, data management implements the policies and procedures established by data governance to gather and use the data for decision-making. 

First, the processes and policies as to how data will be used and kept are defined with the aid of data governance. These policies and procedures are then carried out and put into practice with other significant data efforts under the broader framework of data management.

In short, data management is a broad notion that addresses all of an organization's data lifecycle requirements. At the center of this data management is data governance, which links to a number of other areas, including database operations, data warehousing, and data security, etc.

What Are Examples Of Data Governance?

Here are some examples of data governance:

Developing And Implementing Data Policies: This involves defining policies for the organization's data collection, storage, and usage. 

Establishing A Data Governance Board: This board has the authority to decide on data-related rules and procedures as well as to manage the organization's data governance initiatives.

Establishing Data Quality Standards: This entails defining what "excellent" data is and putting in place procedures to make sure that the data utilized inside the company complies with these criteria.

Implementing Data Security Measures: To safeguard data from illegal access or manipulation, this includes security precautions like encryption and access restrictions.

Establishing Data Retention And Disposal Policies: This entails choosing how long to keep data for and creating policies for getting rid of it when it's no longer required.

Providing Training And Resources For Data Management: This entails giving staff members the resources and tools they need to handle data properly, as well as teaching them how to use these resources and adhere to data governance rules and procedures.

What are the tools used for data governance? 

Data governance tools are tools that assist in developing and maintaining an organized set of policies, processes, and protocols that regulate how data is kept, utilized and managed by an organization.

The Best Data Governance Tools

Having the best tool at your disposal will be helpful in establishing effective data governance.Let’s take  a quick look at the eleven best data governance tools to scale up your data in 2023!  

IBM logo

  1. IBM Data Governance

IBM data governance is a tool you can obtain information about data items, their physical location, meaning, attributes, and usage.  It can be used with both structured and unstructured data and, with this tool, you can reduce compliance risks. 

This tool also offers features including customizable data governance strategies, data cataloging, and acquiring insightful data for big data projects. Additionally, it offers security and confidentiality features including safeguarding personally identifiable information, predicting consumer intelligence, and personal health data.

SAP logo

  1. SAP Master Data Governance

SAP Master Data Governance is a data management system that fosters enterprise-wide insight into the organization's data and other important business data. This solution unifies all of an organization's information sources in a single, unified platform. According to SAP, this solution enables you to gather master data and manage it centrally utilizing a master data management layer based on the SAP Business Technology Platform.

The Master Data Governance program includes integrated modules for organizational change, management of data quality, and metadata management. While offering insights into the master data assets of your company, these modules operate in perfect harmony to preserve consistency throughout your systems.

  1. Erwin

By providing organizations with visibility into their data assets, Erwin Data Intelligence by Quest is a data governance solution that makes operations function more smoothly. Businesses now have the ability to monitor the data they are gathering and how it is being utilized. Additionally, they may make use of various analytics to guarantee that data regulations and best practices are followed.

To examine business metadata landscapes in their totality, the platform combines data catalog and literacy capabilities with built-in automation. Additionally, enterprises can monitor data quality and pinpoint critical data assets thanks to the software's data profiling functionality.

SAS logo
  1. SAS

With the help of its SAS Information Governance tool, software provider SAS Institute hopes to free up time for business and analytics users to focus more on analysis work and less time on finding and evaluating data, while also empowering data stewards and data governance teams to ensure that data assets are protected and used appropriately. In addition to being marketed separately, the governance software is included as a standard feature or a supplemental add-on in a number of SAS analytics products.

The tool can automatically crawl data sources, classify data, and locate sensitive information. It also contains a data catalog. End users may search the metadata in the catalog to identify relevant information, reports, and other analytics assets.  The search results include details on data quality, use metrics, and other factors to aid users in determining whether the found data is appropriate for their analytics needs. 

Collibra logo

  1. Collibra

Collibra is a data governance platform for organizations that automates data operations and integrates cross-functional teams. It offers Natural Language Search, Data Governance Automation, and Data Stewardship.

Users may utilize Collibra's interactive data lineage diagrams to visually comprehend data pieces like rules, issues, connections, and flow. It features a machine learning-powered data library of its own that is coupled to the business clavis and governance standards.

Image Alt Text: Informatica logo

  1. Informatica

Axon Data Governance, a service offered by Informatica, unifies all aspects of the company onto a single, simplified platform. It employs AI-driven automation to support data discovery, quality assessment, and interaction for stewardship. The program enables customers to control the information for their business and choose who is in charge of each individual asset. Users of the program may also keep an eye on change and data quality to increase awareness of their environment.

talend
  1. Talend

The Talend Data Catalog organizes, connects, crawls, profiles, and enhances metadata automatically. Through the use of intelligent connections and machine learning, up to 80% of the information related to the data is automatically recorded and kept current. Semantic discovery, classification, auto-profiling, faceted search, and data sampling are some of the primary aspects of the Data Catalog. A suite of design and productivity capabilities are also included in the platform, along with social curation, data relationship discovery, and certification.

Rocket Software logo
  1. ASG Technologies

ASG Data Intelligence is a solution for "data mistrust," according to ASG Technologies, a Rocket Software company. The company points out that a significant portion of the vast amount of data that is produced and gathered frequently goes unused because business managers, data scientists, and other end users can't discover it or don't understand and trust it. With a collection of metadata management, data lineage, and data governance features, the solution, also known as ASG DI, intends to assist enterprises in resolving such problems.

The metadata-driven software builds end-to-end views of the data as it moves through IT systems and may be used to restrict access and provide details about the data's business importance. For instance, with the use of built-in governance processes and data stewardship tools, data governance teams may manage data-related challenges, approve business glossary additions, and handle other duties. ASG DI additionally supports role-based access control for setting up user permissions for certain data sets.

Semarchy logo
  1. Semarchy

A master data management solution, xDM is provided by Semarchy. The platform makes use of machine learning techniques to facilitate stewardship and advanced matching, survivorship, curation, and categorization. The technology has a native database structure that makes it easier to have clear lineage, audibility, and control. To connect the data hub to already-existing software and operational procedures, xDM may integrate any data source via real-time and batch APIs. A free trial of xDM for both on-premises and cloud computing is available from Semarchy for 30 days.

Atacama logo

  1. Ataccama

Ataccama ONE is an enterprise-class, self-driven, AI-powered data management and governance tool that offers users a single source of truth for all corporate data. Offering insights into their data helps businesses to drive efforts toward digital transformation. Data may be made accessible to people who need it by having security and privacy standards applied automatically to all critical data assets.

The software is available on-premise, cloud, and hybrid forms to assist in improving processes' efficacy, consistency, and efficiency while also personalizing them to specific organizational infrastructures. In order to eliminate manual procedures and increase their effectiveness for data professionals, it automates workflows. This tool might be useful for data stewardship, data governance experts, data analysts, data scientists, and data engineers.

Precisely logo

  1. Precisely

Data360 Govern, a comprehensive enterprise data governance, catalog, and metadata management solution from Precisely, strives to provide organizations confidence in the value, reliability, and quality of their data. For better business choices, Data360 Govern collaborates with Data360 DQ+, Spectrum Quality, and Trillium Quality to increase the quality of transactional data and metadata.

The tool automates administration and stewardship duties in order to respond to queries about the data source, usage, meaning, ownership, and quality. It also makes it easier to collaborate on the discovery, reporting, and auditing tasks that support regulatory compliance with laws like HIPAA and GDPR.

Cappella offers a host of data services that can take your data to the next level!   

Things To Consider Before Choosing A Data Governance Tool

It's important to know what you need a data governance solution for, before choosing one. You can enhance your selections and choose wisely by implementing the following suggestions: 

  • Business Challenges: First, take into account the challenges that exist and what has to be changed in order to reach business objectives. Choosing the best software for your business will be made easier by understanding your objectives.
  • Vendors: Examine the strengths and disadvantages of a potential vendor in light of how well they would complement your corporate objectives. Different vendors provide superior solutions designed for various industries.
  • Evaluate their Contract Language: Make sure your contract's provisions provide you adequate freedom and offer appropriate service assurances. 
  • Price Differentiation: In order to determine whether suppliers have the skill sets you want within your budget, request prices from various companies and interview their customer service representatives.
  • Test: Before making a choice, make sure you try the product. You don't want to invest in a tool that is incompatible with your technological stack or doesn't function properly.

Final Thoughts: Govern Your Data To Scale!

Investment in a data governance platform is crucial for enterprises of all sizes because data enables proper decision-making. Therefore,  in order to scale up your company in 2023, it is important you invest in the right data governance tool to ‘govern’ your data practices. 

This article has carefully highlighted all you need to consider for effective data governing practices and the best tools that can help you achieve them! So make your choice and stick with it. 

Are you finding it difficult to manage your data effectively? Contact us  and one of our data specialists will reach out to discuss!

FAQ

Which is the best data governance tool

Each data governance tool has its set of properties that makes it unique and your company’s objectives would determine which tool to opt for. 

What is data governance in ETL?

The term "data governance" in the context of ETL (extract, transform, load) refers to the standards, procedures, and rules put in place to guarantee the accuracy, consistency, and security of the data being extracted, converted, and loaded into a data warehouse or other data repository. 

What are the 4 pillars of data governance?

The four pillars of data governance are policy, people, process, and technology. 

What is a data governance model?

A data governance model is a framework that describes the systems and procedures for the creation, storage, and disposal of data.

Final Thoughts: Govern Your Data To Scale!

Investment in a data governance platform is crucial for enterprises of all sizes because data enables proper decision-making. Therefore,  in order to scale up your company in 2023, it is important you invest in the right data governance tool to ‘govern’ your data practices. 

This article has carefully highlighted all you need to consider for effective data governing practices and the best tools that can help you achieve them! So make your choice and stick with it. 

Are you finding it difficult to manage your data effectively? Contact us  and one of our data specialists will reach out to discuss!


Sources:

  1. “The Data-Powered Enterprise: Why Organizations Must Strengthen Their Data Mastery.” Capgemini, 5 Sept. 2022, https://www.capgemini.com/insights/research-library/the-data-powered-enterprise/. 


Rasheed Rabata

Is a solution and ROI-driven CTO, consultant, and system integrator with experience in deploying data integrations, Data Hubs, Master Data Management, Data Quality, and Data Warehousing solutions. He has a passion for solving complex data problems. His career experience showcases his drive to deliver software and timely solutions for business needs.