7 Key Benefits of Data Governance

If you work with data, you will surely have a view on data governance and its importance to an organisation’s success. A well-crafted data governance strategy is vital in today’s fast-moving and competitive market. It’s what underpins a healthy data-driven organisation and gives it the discipline to get the most out of their organisation’s data, manage its risks and manage it effectively.

In an earlier article, we explored what data governance is and why it is important. Now, let’s look at some of the key benefits of data governance.

1. Better quality data

One of the biggest benefits of a good data governance strategy is that it establishes the standards, processes and responsibilities needed to ensure consistency, accuracy and reliability in the data.

Bad quality data is often the source of much confusion and chaos! It can drive teams apart, make data analysis and report reconciliation almost impossible and it leads to much inconsistency in performance and results across an organisation. With better quality data comes better results, reliability and trust in the data.

2. Easier access to data

With a solid data governance framework in place, an organisation’s data becomes much more accessible to everyone within the organisation. It is easier to find, use and draw insights from.

When data isn’t easy to find, searching for answers and drawing insights from data becomes much harder to do. It can be a very confusing and time-consuming process and even then can lead to many errors and bad results. Lack of access to or knowledge about what data your organisation has can also lead to the duplication of data, further increasing costs. Therefore, having easier access to data is a great benefit that data governance offers.

3. Improved decision-making

When data is accurate and easy to find, it helps to drive better decision-making. If there is good data available in dashboards then this provides decision makers with the tools they need. Key decisions can be made based on the right data and be used to drive the business forward more effectively.

4. Better understanding of the data

Good data governance offers a consistent and comprehensive view of all the data assets within the organisation. There is greater transparency in the data and it becomes much clearer who is responsible for what data, where it is, and who can do what with it.

5. Improved data management

With good data governance comes good data management. With codes of conduct and best practices in data management put in place, all of the key areas concerned with managing data well, including the main processes, standards as well as legal, security and compliance aspects, are addressed consistently and completely.

6. Reduced risk

Data governance helps to ensure that all data compliance and regulatory laws are met, and that your organisation securely handles data it is entrusted with. It provides a platform upon which to monitor and manage the data more effectively. When data is poorly managed, it can lead to security breaches occurring, and sensitive data can be exposed by mistake, along with other potential breaches of regulations.

7. Better organisational performance

The effect of good data governance is an improvement in organisational performance. Better and faster decision-making should be possible and will help to drive organisational efficiency, success, and profitability.

Costs and time associated with managing low quality data, and fixing errors in or caused by the data, are also eliminated and enable greater focus on business critical activities.

These are the top seven benefits of data governance. Considering all of these will help you to build both a clearer view and a stronger case around why data governance needs to be taken seriously. If you’re trying to create a data governance plan but are finding it tricky to get the support you need or to progress how you wish, perhaps we can help.

At Register Dynamics, we can help you identify, create and implement the right data governance strategy for your organisation. Get in touch with us and let’s start talking and exploring what might be the best approach for you, or feel free to learn more about our Data Governance service.