What is data governance? | Amazon Web Services

Summary

In this masterclass, Kevin Lewis from AWS Professional Services delves into the core concepts of data governance on AWS, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between business and IT. He defines data governance as the practice of ensuring data is in the right condition to support business operations and initiatives. Key roles such as data stewards and data owners are explored, highlighting their responsibilities in managing data quality and policy. The session also discusses leveraging data governance to optimize data use across multiple business initiatives, ensuring long-term success and sustainability of data governance programs.

Takeaways

• 😀 Data governance ensures that organizational data is in the right condition to support business initiatives and operations.
• 😀 Successful data governance requires collaboration between business and IT teams to address both technical and business aspects of data management.
• 😀 A Data Steward is a business-side role responsible for ensuring the quality of data needed for specific business initiatives.
• 😀 Data Stewards help define data quality rules, monitor data, and work with IT to leverage technology to improve data processes.
• 😀 A Data Owner is an executive-level role that makes decisions regarding data policies, access, and resolving data definition issues.
• 😀 The relationship between Data Stewards and Data Owners is key: Data Stewards handle day-to-day data issues, while Data Owners set high-level policies.
• 😀 IT supports data governance by providing the necessary tools, technologies, and systems to manage and integrate data effectively.
• 😀 Modern data governance programs enable technology to improve areas like data quality management, master data management, and data access.
• 😀 Data governance not only supports individual business initiatives but also ensures that data can be reused and shared across multiple initiatives for long-term benefits.
• 😀 Effective data governance integrates data from different sources to provide coherent and comprehensive insights for business processes, such as customer experience and claims adjudication.
• 😀 A successful data governance program should be designed to evolve and scale, allowing it to improve continuously as it supports more business initiatives over time.

Q & A

What is data governance, according to Kevin Lewis?

Data governance is about ensuring that an organization's data is in the right condition to support business initiatives and operations. It involves a partnership between the business and IT to ensure the data is accurate, accessible, and actionable for the organization's goals.

What role does IT play in data governance?

IT helps navigate systems that produce and consume data, enabling data stewards with the right tools, technologies, and capabilities to manage data quality, access, and other aspects crucial for the success of the data governance program.

What is the role of a data steward?

A data steward is a business person with detailed knowledge of the data needed for specific business initiatives. They collaborate with IT to evaluate data quality, create data quality rules, and leverage technologies to improve the data management process.

What is the difference between a data steward and a data owner?

A data steward is involved in the day-to-day management of data, ensuring data quality for specific business initiatives, while a data owner, typically an executive, sets policies around data access, definitions, and governance at a strategic level.

What is the concept of 'working backwards' in data governance at Amazon?

Working backwards refers to prioritizing data governance and technology decisions by aligning them with business initiatives. It ensures that the data is structured and managed to directly support the success of those initiatives.

Why is collaboration between IT and business crucial for data governance?

Collaboration is vital because data governance is not solely a technical issue; it also involves business knowledge. Both teams must work together to ensure that data meets business needs, from quality and access to integration across various initiatives.

How does data governance support scalability and reuse across business initiatives?

Data governance ensures that data is prepared and structured in a way that it can be reused across multiple business initiatives. By managing data quality and ensuring it is coherent and well-integrated, it supports long-term scalability and efficiency.

How can organizations prevent duplication of effort in data integration across business initiatives?

An effective data governance program helps streamline the integration process by putting in place processes and strategies to ensure that data is linked, reusable, and maintained for various business initiatives, preventing repeated work and inefficiency.

What are the challenges organizations face when implementing data governance?

Common challenges include aligning business and IT teams, ensuring data quality, managing complex data systems, and addressing issues related to data access, integration, and consistency across different business functions.

What is the importance of sustaining a data governance program over time?

Sustaining a data governance program is crucial to ensure it continues to support the business effectively. It requires ongoing effort to keep the program healthy, adjust to evolving business needs, and make data governance a part of the organization’s daily operations.