Matt McGivern

I am often asked, with all the investments in data management and infrastructure over the last 50 years, why are we still not great with governing data? To put it simply and directly – it’s hard! Data governance programs are easy to envision conceptually, difficult to implement, and without proper care, impossible to sustain. Often data governance investments have a long ‘time to value’ ROI, making showing incremental progress along with sustainment of the investments very important. Nothing… Show more

I am often asked, with all the investments in data management and infrastructure over the last 50 years, why are we still not great with governing data? To put it simply and directly – it’s hard! Data governance programs are easy to envision conceptually, difficult to implement, and without proper care, impossible to sustain. Often data governance investments have a long ‘time to value’ ROI, making showing incremental progress along with sustainment of the investments very important. Nothing like setting the bar high for all the organizations making investments into data governance. Understanding why things have failed in the past is just as important as designing for the future, so let’s cover some of the common pitfalls. Show less

Sustainable data governance programs are key to managing rapid data growth
The digital revolution has led to an explosive growth in the amount of data created and collected, driving businesses to seek new ways to manage and discover value in the data they hold. In turn, the growth of stored data has been a longstanding management problem, which if not addressed can lead to potential vulnerabilities, data misuse, and possible data loss.

Data must be governed, controlled and protected so that its quality is enhanced, it is well understood, and it is fit for purpose to support end-user demands. Because data is a critical asset, organizations should design in governance from the ground up on all major projects and business objectives. Data governance consists of a collection of controls designed to increase an organization’s knowledge of the data assets, protect the fidelity and quality of these assets, and provide controls over… Show more

Data must be governed, controlled and protected so that its quality is enhanced, it is well understood, and it is fit for purpose to support end-user demands. Because data is a critical asset, organizations should design in governance from the ground up on all major projects and business objectives. Data governance consists of a collection of controls designed to increase an organization’s knowledge of the data assets, protect the fidelity and quality of these assets, and provide controls over the use of these assets. As such, data governance is an enabling competency for the rest of the organization, requiring coordination from many different areas of the business to enable and support the required controls. Show less

As leaders across all industries struggle with COVID-19 responses and business continuity planning, one simple lesson is becoming apparent – good data is key! One of the basic tenets in crisis management is frequent communication with clients, employees, vendors and other stakeholders but many organizations have struggled with this communication due to issues with the quality of their master data.

Senior editor Hugh Watson and co-author Matt McGivern explain why data governance is not just the right thing to do but a cost of doing business. They offer several ways your enterprise can get started with this discipline. As a side benefit, adopting such governance will align IT, BI, and business closer.

A publication with guidance on AML and Data Governance trends within Financial Services.

Interviewed for article on risks associated with Big Data and quoted within the Article.

BI Adoption strategies.

Business Intelligence Centers of Excellence - thoughts on how to stand them up and overall use.

Centralized Models for Business Intelligence, including discussions of Business Intelligence Competency Centers.

View on Data Warehouse Appliances and Big Data Adoption.

Revitalizing BI and strategies for adoption across a wider user community.

A survey paper reviewing technologies utilized in the transmission of Voice over the IP Protocol.