Poor quality data, inconsistency in collection, and other factors such as missing or duplicate fields can cause serious consequences for business outcomes. Additionally, a low quality, under-optimised approach to data assets may impact overall security, with vulnerabilities which may allow access sensitive data remaining hidden.
In an age where the margin for error has become finer than ever before, and with markets growing increasingly competitive, data has emerged as the most valuable resource currently available. Capable of informing insights, revealing previously invisible trends and patterns, displaying customer behaviour, and reporting on campaign performance - data is vital in maintaining the lead over key competitors, rather than adopting a reactive approach.
To ensure that collected data is free from the consequences of poor quality and inconsistency while informing strategic insights, enterprises must adopt a data governance framework. This will influence various factors within an enterprise, such as storage, access, management, and data analytics.
Optimised data governance can influence corporate data in three core ways:
It increases the overall security of stored data.
It ensures that users have access to reliable, high-quality data.
It allows enterprises to assert compliance with various data protection regulations.
With the consequences of not implementing successful data governance programs clear, and with increasing demand for a data-driven approach, governance strategies have evolved from existing solely for the convenience of technical teams to becoming a methodology spanning entire organisations.
Evolving into necessity, we take a look at these three core advantages of implementing successful data governance initiatives within enterprises.
Advantage #1 - Data governance increases the overall security of stored data
One of the most important features of initiating data governance procedures is its ability to ensure that all collated data is secure and inaccessible to external parties, such as cyber criminals.
Without secure data, enterprises risk exposing themselves to data breaches and ransomware attacks, with attacks shifting to target both small and international organisations with equal hostility. In 2021 the estimated global spend on data breach recovery and maintenance is expected to exceed £6 trillion, demonstrating that it has never been more important to install security measures.
Optimised data governance procedures are required to outline specifically how data can be accessed, utilised, and distributed - significantly reducing the possibility of unauthorised users accessing sensitive information.
A correct data governance framework also allows for effective monitoring of current operations across an organisation’s landscape. Without correct governance, unstructured, undefined data may limit the scope and efficacy of security monitoring, limiting risk evaluations in the process.
Advantage #2 - Data governance ensures that users have access to reliable, high-quality data
A correct data governance framework ensures that all-important data assets are formally managed throughout an organisation. This includes creating specific requirements and standards that data must meet to be stored, such as specific formats or structures.
With data stewards enforcing these requirements, organisations can ensure that any data used within crucial operations such as high-profile financial reports and projections are high-quality and reliable.
This high-quality data also limits the possibility of harmful activities from taking place within an organisation - such as the establishment of data silos. These packets of information are often separate from other datasets but may include crucial information that shifts outcomes of reports. Vital information may be missing from campaign progress that influences results gleaned, or financial accounts may lack additional information that influences critical decisions.
By specifically outlining the roles and responsibilities of any data collected in clear policies, organisations can ensure that any data entering their landscape is of the greatest quality possible, unlocking access to the most advanced and current insights possible.
Advantage #3 - Data governance allows enterprises to assert compliance with various data protection regulations
With the introduction of various international data protection regulations, the risk of facing vast fines, as well as the seriousness involved in handling identifiable information, data compliance is a pressing challenge that enterprises of any size must face.
Un-governed data may not provide the necessary foundations to ensure that all aspects of data regulations are adhered to and strictly followed. Examples of this include following user requests to delete stored personal data. With un-defined, inconsistent data management systems, it may be difficult to enforce this to its full extent, opening an organisation to potential fines in the process.
For international organisations, this issue is significantly worsened through having to adhere to multiple international regulations simultaneously. Without clear and structured policies for data collection, storage, access, and sharing, this challenge becomes impossible to navigate.
Empowered governance through DataSecOps
Data governance is a critical aspect of any organisation wishing to take full advantage of their data - a crucial factor in increasingly competitive markets. However, implementing governance regulations throughout existing architecture can prove difficult when considering the size of vast enterprises.
eXate’s universal data privacy platform provides a standardised, universal solution to ensuring international compliance and privacy.
Eliminating common barriers to data governance and compliance such as vast technical expertise and experience, our intuitive dashboard allows users of any skill level to utilise data governance tools, control access, and centralise pre-existing PETs.
Book a free demonstration today
To learn more about our universal data privacy platform and its innovative approach to controlling and maintaining data governance procedures, book a free demonstration with us, or learn more about the increasing importance of data privacy in our accessible introduction.
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