Many people who plan data governance initiatives ignore the need for a business case.
"We've already had approval for the project; why do we need a business case when we've got the budget signed off?"
The perception is that because they have a strong commitment, there is no need to get bogged down in the process of justification.My response to this is to cite several reasons for a data governance business case:
- Dealing with unplanned leadership change. I've lost track of how many of our members on Data Quality Pro have vented their frustration at overnight leadership changes that have swept away their goals for data quality or governance. Creating a robust business case can afford you a greater degree of protection if you witness a sudden organization re-shuffle.
- Overcoming future objections. Many people will state that they are too busy running the business to worry about non-critical activities such as governance, compliance and quality of data. You need to articulate a clear link between data governance and organizational benefit so that you can overcome objections.
- Providing focus and prioritization. The act of creating a business case forces you to identify the areas of greatest need. You can't "boil the ocean" and roll out data governance across the enterprise in weeks. You need to know the areas of greatest need and return. It also helps to validate any preconceived assumptions about the strategy and direction your initiative must take.
- Creating unity. Quite often, a data governance initiative will be driven by an individual or a small group. There is a danger of creating a "them and us" type scenario where the business views data governance as being forced upon them. One telecom's business leader referred to the data governance team by saying: "Those guys consider themselves the white knights, always riding in to save the day." Although it sounded positive, it was a negative description because the business leader felt undermined. A data governance business case benefits from having a cross-departmental agreement so that each group has a vested interest in its outcome.
These are all valid ways to justify the need for a data governance business case. In my next post, I'll share some thoughts on the process of actually building the business case.
