by Angela Guess
Craig Stedman of Search Data Management recently interviewed Danette McGilvray, President and Principal of Granite Falls Consulting regarding Data Governance best practices. Asked how important it is for the business to get involved in DG, McGilvray responded, “The short answer is that it’s very important. The caveat I’m going to make on that is people need to be involved appropriately. What you’re trying to accomplish will determine exactly who and at what level will be involved in this, but it does definitely need to include the business. It’s not truly data governance unless you have representation from [the standpoint of] how data is being created, used and updated, which is on the business side. But the technology folks need to have a say in it, too, as far as how data is stored and shared and the different things that we do to maintain and dispose of data.”
She went on, “In an ideal world, the business side would take the lead [in initiating a Data Governance program] because that means they really understand how they have responsibilities around the data. However, I’m very practical. If there are people on the technology side who are aware of the need [for data governance] and are willing to step up to the plate and lead that effort, then we should go with that. But we need to bring in the business side as well, as quickly as possible.”
