As a project manager with a background in software development and Agile methodologies, it took me a while to realize that project management in data governance would be somewhat different from what I was used to — compared to projects that focus on the delivery of products. To better understand how to use project management in data governance (and other…
Data lives at the intersection of an organization’s people, processes and systems. To truly resolve a conflict or misalignment, it’s highly likely there will need to be changes to your processes and the systems you use. Data governance teams and related groups, such as Information Architecture, are uniquely placed to work on data definition conflicts. Sometimes they’re not brought to…
Resolving data conflicts is messy but essential work, as I talked about before on this blog. Definitions drive true clarity of business purpose — they’re how we come together to create a common vocabulary, a common language. There can be fundamental disagreements in your organization about what certain data is supposed to mean based on their varied operational perspectives. It…
It’s the time of year when we enjoy looking back on our blog articles that captured the most attention in the data management community. This year’s review reveals a diverse mix of sought-after topics, including data remediation, agile data governance, data lineage, remote work and more. Ready for our best-of-the-blog redux? Here we go … Top 5 Posts Published in…
Last week, I joined thousands of professionals at DATAVERSITY’s two-day virtual conference, Enterprise Data World. The conference was a bit different than other years, being entirely online due to safety and health concerns in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This format allowed me to attend lectures from the comfort of my home, and made it easier to fit into my…
A framework to start measuring the value of data includes identifying what information needs to be valued and why, determining a valuation philosophy (actual or relative) and determining a valuation approach. To identify what information needs to be valued, determine what types of content is crucial to business operations. This may include transactions, domains, catalogs, documents, metrics, etc. You may…
With remote work, remote learning and digital transformation on the rise, I’m seeing digital acceleration really take hold in several organizations and across industries. While the definition of digital transformation and acceleration may vary from business to business, it’s clear we’re in a state of evolution, with data at the core. Change can always seem daunting and transformation can take…
In my corporate career, I had the opportunity to build data management programs for large, global companies centered around data governance and master data management. Those opportunities continued over the past five years in my role as a First San Francisco Partners consultant, working on various initiatives and for assorted diverse industries helping our clients achieve critical business objectives. The…
We started our blog back in April 2016, and today we’re celebrating our 100th article with a look back on the top five most popular ones, based on the highest number of views, reader comments and shares on social media. If you’re new to our blog, we cover a variety of topics (to date, more than 20) from our data…
The term Minimum Viable Product, with its roots in the software industry, has been part of the lexicon for some time now. Its meaning: something that provides the most basic functionality and value to satisfy early adopters. There’s a similar concept in First San Francisco Partners’ methodology and approach, the Minimum Viable State (MVS). We define MVS as the essential…
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect today on May 25, is bringing its data protection guidelines to US-based companies that do business in the European Union. For organizations who depend on Collibra — or for those considering implementing this data governance platform — Collibra’s GDPR Accelerator can fast track companies on their way to…
How should organizations, both in the European Union and across the globe, address the complex data management requirements that are in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)? With a two-year lead time to prepare for it, the GDPR comes into force May 25, 2018 — ready or not. Even after fundamental education is acquired on the initial version of this…
A few weeks into the new year, my calendar is already filling up with the industry events, webinars and podcasts I plan to join this year. I’ll show up (or dial in) to share my thoughts on all things data — strategy, management, quality, governance, architecture, analytics, et al — and field questions from hundreds of people. Some will be…
“Data debt” is a term based on the concept of “technology debt,” which comes from the Agile software development world. Technology debt refers to the cost of deferring a software feature, or choosing an easy and/or quick solution instead of a more thoughtful one that would take longer (or be more difficult) to achieve. As a concept and metric, data…