Data governance

The plethora of visualisation and analytics software underscores the need to ensure that an organisation’s “raw material” for all decision-making – the data – is high on its executives’ radar. And with POPI on the horizon, securing sensitive information is in the spotlight, once again.

iOCO tackles the following aspects of data governance:

Data integrity (completeness, accuracy, relevancy and consistency)

Is that date a real date? Does that customer’s ID number match their date of birth? Is that product categorisation using the latest rules?

Data stewardship and ownership (responsibility and accountability)

Do you know who to turn to when data looks suspect? Have you agreed who is ultimately responsible for the rules and quality of your data assets?

Standardisation (single shared definitions, processes)

How can you make sure good data stays good? Do you have good processes and workflows in place to ensure that errors are picked up and dealt with in a systematic and timely manner?
A visible, easily maintained glossary of business terms and rules is essential to correctly interpret data.

Security (access to information, distribution, updates)

Protecting your data means protecting your company, your employees and your customers. Apart from the legal ramifications, it’s just the right thing to do. But finding the balance between accessibility and secrecy is an important, and ongoing, exercise.