VIDEO | Eminent Data Governance Leader: Every Organization Has Data Risks

(US and Canada) Eminent data governance leader Denish Bhavsar speaks with Subhash Kari, Infocepts' Chief Innovation Officer, in a video interview about data governance operating models, change management tactics, and measuring the impact of data governance on business value and data risks.

According to Bhavsar, an organization’s data governance practice should be fit for purpose, size, and pace. He breaks it down into the following three models:

1. Fully centralized model: A centralized data governance team oversees all the practices and enforces policies. It is ideal for a smaller organization.

2. Fully federated and decentralized model: Data governance is embedded in all aspects of the organization. It is ideal for mature organizations.

3. Hybrid model: A centralized data governance team that oversees the policies and practices and works closely with the business to embed those practices. It can either be a data domain approach or a region-based approach.

Bhavsar further states that data is not an IT problem or a data governance problem. It is a business problem that needs the business side at the table to talk about the pain points and possible solutions.

Sharing his approach to bringing more stakeholders on board, he highlights the following:

• Take a bite-size approach, focusing on one specific area to make a visible impact.

• After establishing the use cases, develop a roadmap for the next 12 to 24 months.

• Build momentum for more sponsorship down the road.

Rather than focusing on top-line growth or profitability, Bhavsar considers operational KPIs or areas for improvement from an operational perspective when analyzing data governance's impact on business value. He elaborates on the typical pillars: data quality, data maturity, the process, and the people.

Regarding the variety of data and security in an organization, Bhavsar explains that apart from being a data and analytics partner in the business, having the right risk and control framework in place is also crucial. He says every organization has data risks, and data governance plays a role in highlighting, identifying, and mitigating them with the proper controls.

Bhavsar stresses the need to have the proper controls in terms of access and the environment and ensure the data can be purged safely if no longer needed.

In conclusion, he says it is imperative to have a good understanding of the data, its location, criticality, and sensitivity, and then have the right controls in place to ensure it is protected and purged correctly.

CDO Magazine appreciates Denish Bhavsar for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.

See more from Denish Bhavsar

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