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Andy Steer | September 20, 2016

The Modern Data Platform – challenge 5 – LACK OF GOVERNANCE. Part Two

Following on from part one of the previous modern data platform blog, I will now continue to go through challenge five of LACK OF GOVERNANCE…

The Data Warehouse and Data Governance

In order to provide effective governance, it is essential to have agreed processes and then of course visibility into those processes. Data warehousing is no different. Look again at the simple architecture we discussed as part of challenge 2.

Modern Data Platform - Challenge 2 - Complex Architecture - Traditional - Simple

(click on image to enlarge)

If we consider this in the context of a data governance initiative, then there are a few immediate questions that come to mind:

Source Systems

  • Are all the source systems included in the organisations overall data governance structure?
  • Do developers, users and management have access to an easily referenceable up to date list of all the source systems and their ownership?
  • Are the necessary data governance standards applied to external as well as internal data sources?
  • Do we have a roadmap for the evolution of each of the source systems?
  • If the source system is internally developed, who owns it and what succession plans are in place to ensure knowledge is not limited?
  • When confronted with proposed changes to source systems, are you able to easily perform impact analysis that includes not only the data warehouse but also the reports beyond?
  • Can you easily map and catalogue new source systems without compromising your data governance rules?

 

Extract Transform and Load

  • Are all of the individual ETL processes fully documented with identified technical and business owners?
  • Can the ETL be reviewed from a business process centric rather than data centric view?
  • Do all the ETL processes produce standard log details that can be easily reviewed and queried?
  • Do we have documented standards covering our ETL processes and do they have identified owners?
  • Have all the ETL Processes been built using consistent methods, approaches and tools?
  • Are the ETL processes and their effect on the organisations data included within the enterprise wide data governance model?
  • Do we have controls in place to ensure that personal, sensitive or confidential data is processed correctly?
  • Can you quickly and experimentally load new datasets without compromising your data governance structures?

 

Store and Optimise

  • Is the data warehouse main repository part of the enterprise data governance strategy?
  • Are all the data items catalogued and aligned to competent and responsible owners?
  • Do we have rules governing the retention of data within the data warehouse and can we measure adherence?
  • Does the data warehouse contain rich metadata to support semantic based discovery?
  • Are there strong rules in place (and enforced) to control storage and access to personal or confidential data?
  • Can data be segmented or partitioned based on standard rules?
  • Are all the data models for the data warehouse standardised and contained within a suitable enterprise data modelling solution?
  • Are there suitable levels of sign off in place for any changes to the data warehouse model?
  • Can you provide data lineage from the presentation / data mart layer back through to the underlying data sources along with relevant audit and trace information?
  • Can you extend data stewardship including data quality responsibility to business users?

So what’s the answer?

Is it possible to address the requirements for a flexible, agile data warehouse while still meeting your data governance obligations?

Can you deliver robust data governance processes within a data warehouse even if they don’t exist within the wider organisation?

Can you alleviate the core concerns around a lack of data governance without embarking upon a huge enterprise wide project?

The answer is, yes (of course).

The Modern Data Platform

The Modern Data Platform delivers on all the requirements for a next generation data warehouse. Enabling organisations to radically simplify their existing legacy or overly complex solutions in order to lower running costs, improve agility and gain breakthrough performance that delivers real business value, without compromising on their governance requirements.

In fact, the modern data platform can form the foundation of a data governance strategy that can be extended across the organisation.

To find out how the Modern Data Platform addresses the challenges of a LACK OF GOVERNANCE download our webinar recording.