The last few years have shown us effective signs that companies need to transform rapidly to adapt to the new world. And you have probably already realized just how valuable data is for the maintenance, competitiveness, and continuity of your organization.

However, simply collecting data is not enough to obtain competitive advantages. More than just accumulating information, it is necessary to analyze, manage, and, most importantly, administer it in a transparent, ethical manner that is appropriate to the demands of an organization.

And that is where data governance comes in: the best ally for anyone who wants to turn data into strategic assets and drive more informed and, consequently, assertive decision-making.

Want to know more about the concept? Then, carry on reading!

What is Data Governance?

In a few words, data governance involves managing data in an organization, with the goal of ensuring that all information related to internal processes is accurate, and is properly available, protected, and ready for use.

To achieve this, it covers a set of practices, policies, procedures, and organizational structures aimed at all stakeholders, such as managers, owners, and data users.

Within this concept, everyone works together toward a single goal: establishing and maintaining clear guidelines on how data should be handled.

In practice, governance extends to negotiation data, customer management, market strategies, business goals, solutions, and other confidential information ("sensitive data").

Faced with so many qualifications, data governance is, without a doubt, the best way for organizations to ensure that the exchange of any information meets security, integrity, and compliance requirements.

How is Governance Able to Turn Data into Strategic Assets?

The main objective of data governance is to make corporate decision-making simpler and more assertive, benefiting businesses with agility, innovation, and results.

In this model, certain fundamental factors are established, such as, for example, determining who can make a decision, at what moment that decision can be made, and using which methods. 

Discover, in the following topics, how governance is able to turn corporate data into strategic assets:

1. Decision-Making

Decision-making involves critical and challenging processes in any type of business. After all, any failure to understand the data can be dangerous and cause extremely serious damage to an organization's finances, image, and credibility.

The good news is that a well-established governance process allows managers to perform accurate predictive analyses to define strategies, forecast market trends, adjust prices, or develop new processes and solutions with greater confidence and alignment with the market, minimizing risks and maximizing opportunities.

2. Information Protection

“Data is the new oil” and, therefore, must be properly protected with state-of-the-art technologies and sophisticated encryption solutions.

In this sense, Data Governance also works to ensure that all financial or sensitive information is in full compliance with local and international regulations, such as the LGPD and the GDPR (depending on the type of operation).

It is worth mentioning that regulatory compliance is essential for an organization to maintain the trust of its investors, ensure business integrity, and avoid financial penalties, such as fines and sanctions.

3. More Efficiency in Processes

Another strategic advantage of Data Governance is how much it automates and standardizes the flow of internal information, ensuring much more agility and assertiveness  in processes.

With well-managed data, it is possible to implement automatic workflows that reduce manual time and effort, improving operational efficiency and freeing up resources for more strategic activities.

4. Less Waste

Last but not least, data governance helps to identify and eliminate redundancies and waste in information management.

This is because, when a business begins to consolidate scattered data and avoid duplication of effort, it can significantly reduce operational costs and allocate resources more efficiently.

In practice, data governance allows companies to promote a more efficient use of resources and, consequently, improve their profitability.

5 Steps to Start Investing in Data Governance

Now that you already know what data governance is and what its benefits are, you must be wondering how to put the concept into practice and experience all the competitive advantages it provides. 

To help you in this mission, we have listed a step-by-step guide.

1- Establish Roles and Responsibilities

The first step is to define who the actors involved in data governance are and clearly outline the responsibilities of each one. 

Identify the professional or group of professionals who will have the responsibility to manage all processes involving the exchange of data.

Then, determine to whom each person reports and which tasks they are responsible for.

2- Visualize the Current Overview of Your Business

What transformations, whether in processes or even in organizational culture, will be necessary to implement data security in your organization?

It is necessary to understand and map the current scenario to detect potential vulnerabilities or areas that need improvement.

To do this, the best way is to invest time in a detailed analysis of all existing processes, evaluating how data is collected, stored, and protected. 

The most recommended approach is to define, beforehand, all the stages of this process, from risk identification to the implementation of solutions, without underestimating the importance of employee training.

3- Define the Strategy

How will data governance be carried out in the coming years? What methodology will be used for measurement? What steps will be taken in the short, medium, and long term? How will these tools be tested and monitored?

It is necessary to define a strategy capable of answering all these questions and then determine the sector where it will be tested.

#DicadaCode: start with areas with high volumes and information, such as marketing and sales, for example.

4- Optimize the Use of Information

Data arrives from the most diverse sources, forms, and locations. Therefore, it is up to the organization to identify the best way to organize this information, and a good tip is to filter the value of each piece. After all, you can only value and hierarchy what is calculated.

5- Continuously Monitor and Audit

Measuring and tracking is essential to understand if the adopted methodologies were successful or if they need improvement.

For this, it is worth using monitoring tools to ensure that all data governance processes are being developed as planned.

It is also worth including regular meetings, investing in integration platforms, and constantly reviewing codes of conduct.

It is important that this monitoring is seasonal, with monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly intervals.

On the other hand, more in-depth analyses can be done semi-annually or annually.

Want a helping hand when implementing the best Corporate Governance practices? Count on CodeCell!

We, at CodeBit, understand that for many companies, development is not a core business, but rather a tool that drives the achievement of their goals.

Therefore, we believe that, by having a specialized development team to exchange experiences, it is possible to multiply consolidated knowledge and improve governance as a whole.

CodeCell is the ideal solution for companies that want to invest in IT services without losing focus on their business and implement resources that best adapt to their processes and individual business demands.

With hybrid development cells, your team members work together with programmers from CodeBit, in a multidisciplinary environment of experience exchange, expanding the response capacity to your business needs.

This multidisciplinary cell enables refreshing the team with members who participate in different projects, as well as the use of an exclusive structure of consolidated capacity and controlled distribution of knowledge.

With CodeCell, you get the benefits of a dedicated developer team without going through long and uncertain hiring and training processes.

Focus on your business while keeping up with digital changes and grow sustainably with CodeCell. Click here and find out more!

Until the next post!