Everyone talks about "running IT like a business." This major financial institution is determined to do it.
One key element is to apply formal asset management practices to IT and data assets. In support of this goal, the corporation focused on a series of repositories housing IT-related data. A set of IT Master Data were identified, and processes feeding/managing these repositories were examined to assess how they ensured the data was "fit for use" for financial reporting and operational analysis.
One such system was a new application inventory repository that would house "Single Source of the Truth" data used for financial reporting, operations, and compliance purposes. The data in the repository needed to have clear ownership and stewardship accountabilities that would result in both initial improvements to the data quality and also ongoing controls and processes focused on data quality, integrity, and Sarbanes-Oxley attestations.
The organization asked the Data Governance Institute to help build two Data Governance organizations simultaneously: one to focus on the repository, and an umbrella group that brought together stakeholders associated with multiple systems involved in asset management to identify and address issues associated with standardization, integration, and quality.
Employing a common framework, a formal and auditable decision-making process, and rules for writing enterprise-quality data definitions, we helped launch two data governance councils and establish "rules of engagement" for impact analysis and issue resolution. We facilitated a series of decisions with cross-functional impact, and we assisted stewards and data architects validate and enhance definitions for the IT Master Data required to report on efforts to run IT like a business.
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