Report Certification – A Booster To Promoting Data Shareability In A Trusted, Governed, Business-Ready Environment.
One of the most prevailing problems we face in our data-driven world today is the proliferation of multiple versions of truth in our data landscape. Many redundancies and duplication of efforts continue to cause many organizations millions yearly as this continues to be a never-ending problem.
Solving the inconsistencies and wastage of resources in the data landscape is one of the primary plights of many organizations on their data governance adoption.
Establishing the needed level of trust in our enterprise data is the goal of many organizations and the only way to stop the bleeding caused by the many silos that have created multiple versions of truth in our ecosystems over the years.
One of the most efficient ways to undo some of this wastage over the years is by addressing the root cause of the current mess. It simply boils down to the lack of trust in our data environment. Most of our data consumers consume the data they use blindly, and a lot results in simply creating their own because the existing reports are a 'black-box' to them. Every organization must swiftly address the issue of trust around their data consumption to stop this malady.
Report Certification is one of the smartest strategies every organization can engage in to build a culture of trust around their report and data inventory.
What is Report Certification?
Report certification is a process an organization can engage to begin to review and 'rubber-stamp its data health and fitness for consumption after the data has been thoroughly vetted and certified to meet the defined quality standard by the enterprise.
I've seen many organizations tap into this as part of their governance process to attest to the quality of their data for enterprise consumption and use with a certain confidence level.
Why Report Certification?
Most online retailers platforms today like Amazon, Walmart, and the like promote their product offering and services by showcasing consumers ratings of their product to boost customer confidence and market growth.
Shopping for practically any new item online has become so easy as we all engage in feedback and attestations around the same products and services from retailers, shops, hotels, and restaurants. We review previous customers' ratings and recommendations around the same. Our confidence level is boosted around products that have been certified with good ratings and feedback from previous customers' experience.
Data certification simply provides a similar strategy for your data consumers to shop for the data they need based on attestation and certification of existing datasets and reports in your organization. The following are some additional benefits:
· It provides a platform for your data owners to present approved and certified data for others to use with their nod of approval on the quality level of their data.
· It helps transform the organization's culture from consuming data blindly to engaging data with a better understanding of the confidence level tagged on the data for consumption.
· It discourages data citizens from creating further redundancies and multiple versions of truth and silos across the organization.
· It provides an opportunity to retire redundant data as people begin to engage only authentic, certified data.
· It accelerates resolving data quality issues that may arise from a central consumption place.
· It promotes shareability and discourages silo.
How Do You Engage Report Certification?
Data certification involves a proper review of every key data and key report used in the organization to support business needs with the goal of confirming their validity and accuracy for consumption. Hence the following are some of the practical steps for establishing a thriving data certification culture:
· Inventory your key data and critical reports used for both external and internal reports and decision-making.
· Assign data owners and report owners to establish accountability around the integrity of the dataset along its value chain.
· Develop a certification checklist standard for an acceptable level of quality and control around KDEs and reports
· Review every KDE and critical report against the certified checklist criteria to ensure data is fit for purpose against the outlined checklist
· Obtain certified approval of the health of Key Reports and Data from Data Owners & Report Owners.
· Publish Certified Reports and KDEs for enterprise consumption.
· Promote periodic attestation of established certification status of all KDEs and Key Reports.
In summary, certifying your key reports is not only a great booster to a govern, trusted data environment. It positions your organization for greater value adds with your data asset beyond the immediate. It fuels shareability and promotes trust around your data asset, Thereby creating a winning strategy for all your data initiatives. The ROI is simply limitless.
For more detail and practical help on how to kickoff and accelerate your Data Governance adoption for success. Book a Free Call with me to discuss your challenges and we can explore simple strategies to actualize your governance success.