- Effective data management requires a cross-functional approach that engages both the business and IT.
- Despite the growing focus on data, many organizations struggle to develop an effective strategy for managing their data assets.
- Effective data management is more than just a technical solution. It requires a change in culture from the business and investments in resourcing, technology, and process.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Data management is not one size fits all: Cut through the noise related to data management and create a strategy and process that is right for your organization.
- Take a data-oriented approach: People stop thinking about data and the art of the possible when you bring up business functions. Maintain a data focus during a project’s planning, delivery, and evaluation stages.
Impact and Result
- Use this blueprint’s approach and roadmap results to support your organization in building a practice that prioritizes plans and actions that best address opportunities for managing business risk and value.
- Create a culture of collaboration that will allow the plans and visions for your data management practice to maintain momentum and be sustained over the long term.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
9.3/10
Overall Impact
$139,202
Average $ Saved
34
Average Days Saved
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
Workshop
10/10
$95,000
47
Richter Management Ltd.
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
5
PRIDE Industries
Workshop
10/10
$62,999
120
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Guided Implementation
8/10
$200K
100
TCU Financial Group
Workshop
10/10
$25,000
20
Canadian Defence Academy
Guided Implementation
10/10
$6,000
10
Cianbro Corporation
Guided Implementation
10/10
$12,599
10
Ansa McAl
Guided Implementation
10/10
$125K
100
Government of Northwest Territories - Ministry of Health
Guided Implementation
10/10
$600K
120
Saskatchewan Workers Compensation Board
Guided Implementation
8/10
$25,000
5
CIRCOR International
Workshop
10/10
$619K
16
Reiter Affiliated Companies
Workshop
10/10
$61,999
10
Archtexx Consulting GmbH
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
120
Clyde & Co LLP
Guided Implementation
10/10
$76,499
20
Caerus Operating LLC
Workshop
9/10
$34,099
5
ROLTA AdvizeX
Workshop
10/10
$30,999
20
Cloud and Things Inc
Guided Implementation
9/10
$2,458
N/A
Town of Apex
Workshop
9/10
$4,959
3
Parsons Inc.
Workshop
8/10
$10,000
5
Real Estate Council of Ontario 1
Workshop
7/10
$100K
10
Kentucky COT (Commonwealth Office of Technology)
Workshop
8/10
$61,999
55
Gateway Technical College
Workshop
10/10
$371K
44
Ucla Anderson School of Management
Workshop
10/10
$123K
60
LGM Financial Services
Workshop
10/10
$47,500
10
Sunflower Bank
Workshop
10/10
N/A
90
Auckland Transport
Guided Implementation
7/10
$30,750
10
St Vrain Valley School District
Guided Implementation
10/10
$12,399
10
Midmark Corporation
Workshop
7/10
$11,159
10
Werner Co.
Guided Implementation
9/10
$125K
5
Fusion Superplex
Guided Implementation
10/10
$1M
60
Workshop: Create a Data Management Roadmap
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Develop Data Strategies
The Purpose
- Understand the business’s vision for data and the role of the data management practice.
- Determine business requirements for data.
- Map business goals and strategic plans to create data strategies.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Understanding of business’s vision for data
- Unified vision for data management (business and IT)
- Identification of the business’s data strategies
Activities
Outputs
Establish business context for data management.
- Practice vision
Develop data management principles and scope.
- Data management guiding principles
Develop conceptual data model (subject areas).
- High-level data requirements
Discuss strategic information needs for each subject area.
Develop data strategies.
- Data strategies for key data assets
Identify data management strategies and enablers.
Module 2: Assess Data Management Capabilities
The Purpose
- Determine the current and target states of your data management practice.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Clear understanding of current environment
Activities
Outputs
Determine the role and scope of data management within the organization.
- Data management scope
Assess current data management capabilities.
- Data management capability assessment results
Set target data management capabilities.
Identify performance gaps.
Module 3: Analyze Gaps and Develop Improvement Initiatives
The Purpose
- Identify how to bridge the gaps between the organization’s current and target environments.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Creation of key strategic plans for data management
Activities
Outputs
Evaluate performance gaps.
- Data management improvement initiatives
Identify improvement initiatives.
Create preliminary improvement plans.
Module 4: Design Roadmap and Plan Implementation
The Purpose
- Create a realistic and action-oriented plan for implementing and improving the capabilities for data management.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Completion of a Data Management Roadmap
- Plan for how to implement the roadmap’s initiatives
Activities
Outputs
Align data management initiatives to data strategies and business drivers.
- Data management roadmap
Identify dependencies and priorities
- Action plan
Build a data management roadmap (short and long term)
Create a communication plan
- Communication plan
Create a Data Management Roadmap
Ensure the right capabilities to support your data strategy.
Contents
Executive Brief |
Analyst Perspective |
Executive Summary |
Phase 1: Build Business and User Context |
Phase 2: Assess Data Management and Build Your Roadmap |
Additional Support |
Related Research |
Bibliography |
Create a Data Management Roadmap
Ensure the right capabilities to support your data strategy.
EXECUTIVE BRIEF
Analyst Perspective
Establish a data management program to realize the data strategy vision and data-driven organization.
Data is one of the most valuable organizational assets, and data management is the foundation – made up of plans, programs, and practices – that delivers, secures, and enhances the value of those assets.
Digital transformation in how we do business and innovations like artificial intelligence and automation that deliver exciting experiences for our customers are all powered by readily available, trusted data. And there’s so much more of it.
A data management roadmap designed for where you are in your business journey and what’s important to you provides tangible answers to “Where do we start?” and “What do we do?”
This blueprint helps you build and enhance data management capabilities as well as identify the next steps for evaluating, strengthening, harmonizing, and optimizing these capabilities, aligned precisely with business objectives and data strategy.
Andrea Malick
Director, Research & Advisory, Data & Analytics Practice Info-Tech Research Group |
Frame the problem
Who this research is for
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This research will help you
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This research will also assist
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This research will also help you
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Executive Summary
Your Challenge
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Common Obstacles
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Info-Tech’s Approach
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Info-Tech Insight
Use value streams and business capabilities to develop a prioritized and practical data management plan that provides the highest business satisfaction in the shortest time.
Data Management Capabilities
Data is a business asset and needs to be treated like one
Data management is an enabler of the business and therefore needs to be driven by business goals and objectives. For data to be a strategic asset of the business, the business and IT processes that support its delivery and management must be mature and clearly executed.
Business Drivers
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Data Management Enablers
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Industry spotlight: Risk management in the financial services sector
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE Regulations are the #1 driver for risk management. |
US$11M:Fine incurred by a well-known Wall Street firm after using inaccurate data to execute short sales orders. |
“To successfully leverage customer data while maintaining compliance and transparency, the financial sector must adapt its current data management strategies to meet the needs of an ever-evolving digital landscape.” (Phoebe Fasulo, Security Scorecard, 2021) |
Industry spotlight: Operational excellence in the public sector
GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY With frequent government scandals and corruption dominating the news, transparency to the public is quickly becoming a widely adopted practice at every level of government. Open government is the guiding principle that the public has access to the documents and proceedings of government to allow for effective public oversight. With growing regulations and pressure from the public, governments must adopt a comprehensive data management strategy to ensure they remain accountable to their rate payers, residents, businesses, and other constituents. |
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Industry spotlight: Operational excellence and client intimacy in major league sports
SPORTS ANALYTICS A professional sports team is essentially a business that is looking for wins to maximize revenue. While they hope for a successful post-season, they also need strong quarterly results, just like you. Sports teams are renowned for adopting data-driven decision making across their organizations to do everything from improving player performance to optimizing tickets sales. At the end of the day, to enable analytics you must have top-notch information management. |
Team Performance Benefits
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Industry leaders cite data, and the insights they glean from it, as their means of standing apart from their competitors. |
Industry spotlight: Operational excellence and service delivery within manufacturing and supply chain services
SUPPLY CHAIN EFFICIENCY Data offers key insights and opportunities when it comes to supply chain management. The supply chain is where the business strategy gets converted to operational service delivery of the business. Proper data management enables business processes to become more efficient, productive, and profitable through the greater availability of quality data and analysis. Fifty-seven percent of companies believe that supply chain management gives them a competitive advantage that enables them to further develop their business (FinancesOnline, 2021). |
Involving Data in Your Supply Chain
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Industry spotlight: Intelligent product innovation and strong product portfolios differentiate consumer retailers and CPGs
INFORMED PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT |
Consumer shopping habits and preferences are notoriously variable, making it a challenge to develop a well-received product. Information and insights into consumer trends, shopping preferences, and market analysis support the probability of a successful outcome. |
Maintaining a Product Portfolio
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Internal Data
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Changes in business and technology are changing how organizations use and manage data
The world moves a lot faster today
Businesses of today operate in real time. To maintain a competitive edge, businesses must identify and respond quickly to opportunities and events. To effectively do this businesses must have accurate and up-to-date data at their fingertips. To support the new demands around data consumption, data velocity (pace in which data is captured, organized, and analyzed) must also accelerate. Data Management Implications
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Studies and projections show a clear case of how data and its usage will grow and evolve.
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To differentiate and remain competitive in today’s marketplace, organizations are becoming more data-driven
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Analytic Competitor“Given the unforgiving competitive landscape, organizations have to transform now, and correctly. Winning requires an outcome-focused analytics strategy.” (Ramya Srinivasan, Forbes, 2021) |
Data and the use of data analytics has become a centerpiece to effective modern business. Top-performing organizations across a variety of industries have been cited as using analytics five times more than lower performers (MIT Sloan). |
The strategic value of data
Power intelligent and transformative organizational performance through leveraging data.
Respond to industry disruptors |
Optimize the way you serve your stakeholders and customers |
Develop products and services to meet ever-evolving needs |
Manage operations and mitigate risk |
Despite investments in data initiatives, organizations are carrying high levels of data debt
Data debt is the accumulated cost that is associated with the suboptimal governance of data assets in an enterprise, like technical debt.
Data debt is a problem for 78% of organizations. | |||
40%of organizations say individuals within the business do not trust data insights. |
66%of organizations say a backlog of data debt is impacting new data management initiatives. |
33%of organizations are not able to get value from a new system or technology investment. |
30%of organizations are unable to become data-driven. |
(Source: Experian, 2020)
The journey to being data-drivenThe journey to becoming a data-driven organization requires a pit stop at data enablement. |
The Data Economy
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Measure success to demonstrate tangible business valuePut data management into the context of the business:
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Don’t let measurement be an afterthought:Start substantiating early on how you are going to measure success as your data management program evolves. |
Build a right-sized roadmap
Formulate an actionable roadmap that is right-sized to deliver value in your organization.
Key considerations:- When building your data management roadmap, ensure you do so through an enterprise lens. Be cognizant of other initiatives that might be coming down the pipeline that may require you to align your data governance milestones accordingly.
- Apart from doing your planning with consideration for other big projects or launches that might be in-flight and require the time and attention of your data management partners, also be mindful of the more routine yet still demanding initiatives.
- When doing your roadmapping, consider factors like the organization’s fiscal cycle, typical or potential year-end demands, and monthly/quarterly reporting periods and audits. Initiatives such as these are likely to monopolize the time and focus of personnel key to delivering on your data management milestones
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Insight summary
Overarching insight
Your organization’s value streams and the associated business capabilities require effectively managed data. Whether building customer service excellence or getting ahead of cyberattacks, a data management practice is the dependable mainstay supporting business operations and transformation.
Insight 1Data – it’s your business.Data is a digital imprint of business activities. Data architecture and flows are reflective of the organizational business architecture. Take data management capabilities as seriously as other core business capabilities. |
Insight 2Take a data-oriented approach.Data management must be data-centric – with technology and functional enablement built around the data and its structure and flows. Maintain the data focus during project’s planning, delivery, and evaluation stages. |
Insight 3Get the business into the data business.Data is not “IT’s thing.” Just as a bank helps you properly allocate your money to achieve your financial goals, IT will help you implement data management to support your business goals, but the accountability for data resides with the business. |
Tactical insight
Data management is the program and environment we build once we have direction, i.e. a data strategy, and we have formed an ongoing channel with the guiding voice of the business via data governance. Without an ultimate goal in a strategy or the real requirements of the business, what are we building data systems and processes for? We are used to tech buzz words and placing our hope in promising innovations like artificial intelligence. There are no shortcuts, but there are basic proven actions we can take to meet the digital revolution head on and let our data boost our journey.
Key deliverable:Data Management Roadmap TemplateUse this template to guide you in translating your project's findings and outcomes into a presentation that can be shared with your executive team and project sponsors.
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Blueprint deliverablesEach step of this blueprint is accompanied by supporting deliverables to help you accomplish your goals:
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Measure the value of this blueprint
Leverage this blueprint’s approach to ensure your data management initiatives align and support your key value streams and their business capabilities.
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In Phase 1 of this blueprint, we will help you establish the business context, define your business drivers and KPIs, and understand your current data management capabilities and strengths.
In Phase 2, we will help you develop a plan and a roadmap for addressing any gaps and improving the relevant data management capabilities so that data is well positioned to deliver on those defined business metrics. |
Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs
DIY Toolkit |
Guided Implementation |
Workshop |
Consulting |
"Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful." | "Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track." | "We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place." | "Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project." |
Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options |
Create a Data Management Roadmap project overview
1. Build Business Context and Drivers for the Data Management Program | 2. Assess Data Management and Build Your Roadmap | |
Best-Practice Toolkit |
1.1 Review the Data Management Framework 1.2 Understand and Align to Business Drivers 1.3 Build High-Value Use Cases 1.4 Create a Vision |
2.1 Assess Data Management 2.2 Build Your Data Management Roadmap 2.3 Organize Business Data Domains |
Guided Implementation |
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Phase Outcomes |
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Guided Implementation
A Guided Implementation (GI) is a series of calls with an Info-Tech analyst to help implement our best practices in your organization.
A typical GI is 8 to 12 calls over the course of 4 to 6 months.
What does a typical GI on this topic look like?
Phase 1 |
Phase 2 |
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Call #1: Understand drivers, business context, and scope of data management at your organization. Learn about Info-Tech’s approach and resources.
Call #2: Get a detailed overview of Info-Tech’s approach, framework, Data Culture Diagnostic, and blueprint. |
Call #3:Align your business capabilities with your data management capabilities. Begin to develop a use case framework.
Call #4:Further discuss alignment of business capabilities to data management capabilities and use case framework. |
Call #5: Assess your current data management capabilities and data environment. Review your Data Culture Diagnostic Scorecard, if applicable.
Call #6: Plan target state and corresponding initiatives. |
Call #7: Identify program risks and formulate a roadmap.
Call #8: Identify and prioritize improvements. Define a RACI chart. |
Call #9: Summarize results and plan next steps. |
Workshop Overview |
Contact your account representative for more information.
workshops@infotech.com1-888-670-8889 |
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | |
Activities |
Understand and contextualize1.1 Review your data strategy. 1.2 Learn data management capabilities. 1.3 Discuss DM capabilities cross-dependencies and interactions. 1.4 Develop high-value use cases. |
Assess current DM capabilities and set improvement targets2.1 Assess you current DM capabilities. 2.2 Set targets for DM capabilities. |
Formulate and prioritize improvement initiatives3.1 Formulate core initiatives for DM capabilities improvement. 3.2 Discuss dependencies across the initiatives and prioritize them. |
Plan for delivery dates and assign RACI4.1 Plan dates and assign RACI for the initiatives. 4.2 Brainstorm initiatives to address gaps and enable business goals. |
Next steps and wrap-up (offsite)5.1 Complete in-progress deliverables from previous four days. 5.2 Set up review time for workshop deliverables and to discuss next steps. |
Deliverables |
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What is data management and why is it needed?“Data management is the development, execution, and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that deliver, control, protect and enhance the value of data and information assets throughout their lifecycles.” (DAMA International, 2017)Achieving successful management and consistent delivery of data assets throughout their lifecycle requires the collaboration of the business and IT and the balance of technology, process, and resourcing solutions. |
Who:This research is designed for:
Are your data management capabilities optimized to support your organization’s data use and demand? |
What is the current situation?
Situation
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Complication
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Info-Tech Insight
A data strategy should never be formulated disjointed from the business. Ensure the data strategy aligns with the business strategy and supports the business architecture. |
Info-Tech’s Data Management Framework
What Is Data Management?
“Data management is the development, execution, and supervision of plans, policies, programs and practices that deliver, control, protect and enhance the value of data and information assets throughout their lifecycles.” (DAMA International, 2017)
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Adapted from DAMA-DMBOK and Advanced Knowledge Innovations Global Solutions |
Info-Tech’s Approach
Info-Tech’s Data Management Framework is designed to show how an organization’s business model sits as the foundation of its data management practice. Drawing from the requirements of the underpinning model, a practice is designed and maintained through the creation and application of the enablers and dimensions of data management.
Build a data management practice that is centered on supporting the business and its use of key data assets
Business Resources
Data subject areas provide high-level views of the data assets that are used in business processes and enable an organization to perform its business functions. Classified by specific subjects, these groups reflect data elements that, when used effectively, are able to support analytical and operational use cases of data. This layer is representative of the delivery of the data assets and the business’ consumption of the data. Data is an integral business asset that exists across all areas of an organization![]() |
![]() For a data management practice to be effective it ultimately must show how its capabilities and operations better support the business in accessing and leveraging its key data assets.* *This project focuses on building capabilities for data management. Leverage our data quality management research to support you in assessing the performance of this model. |
Information dimensions support the different types of data present within an organization’s environment
Information Dimensions
Components at the Information Dimensions layer manage the different types of data and information present with an environment. At this layer, data is managed based on its type and how the business is looking to use and access the data. Custom capabilities are developed at this level to support:
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Build a data management practice with strong process capabilities
Use these guiding principles to contextualize the purpose and value for each data management enabler.
Info-Tech categorizes data management enablers as the processes that guide the management of the organization’s data assets and support the delivery. |
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Use Info-Tech’s assessment framework to support your organization’s data management planning
Info-Tech employs a consumer-driven approach to requirements gathering in order to support a data management practice. This will create a vision and strategic plan that will help to make data an enabler to the business as it looks to achieve its strategic objectives. | ||
Data Strategy PlanningTo support the project in building an accurate understanding of the organization’s data requirements and the role of data in its operations (current and future), the framework first guides organizations on a business and subject area assessment. By focusing on data usage and strategies for unique data subject areas, the project team will be better able to craft a data management practice with capabilities that will generate the greatest value and proactively handle evolving data requirements. |
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Data Management AssessmentTo support the design of a fit-for-purpose data management practice that aligns with the business’ data requirements this assessment will guide you in:
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Create a Data Management Roadmap
Phase 1
Build Business Context and Drivers for the Data Management Program
Phase 1
1.1 Review the Data Management Framework 1.2 Understand and Align to Business Drivers 1.3 Build High-Value Use Cases 1.4 Create a Vision | Phase 22.1 Assess Data Management 2.2 Build Your Data Management Roadmap 2.3 Organize Business Data Domains |
This phase will walk you through the following activities:
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This phase involves the following participants:
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Step 1.1
Review the Data Management Framework
Activities
1.1.1 Walk through the main parts of the best-practice Data Management Framework
This step will guide you through the following activities:
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Outcomes of this step
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Step 1.1 | Step 1.2 | Step 1.3 | Step 1.4 |
Data Management Capabilities
Build a Robust & Comprehensive Data Strategy
Business Strategy
Organizational Goals & Objectives Business Drivers Industry Drivers Current EnvironmentData Management Capability Maturity Assessment Data Culture Diagnostic Regulatory and Compliance Requirements |
Data Strategy
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Unlock the Value of Data
Generate Game-Changing Insights Fuel Data-Driven Decision Making Innovate and Transform With Data Thrive and Differentiate With a Data-Driven Culture Elevate Organizational Data IQ Build a Foundation for Data Valuation |
What is a data strategy and why is it needed?
What is driving the need to formulate or refresh your organization’s data strategy? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightA data strategy should never be formulated disjointed from the business. Ensure the data strategy aligns with the business strategy and supports the business architecture. |
Info-Tech’s Data Governance Framework
What is data governance and why is it needed?
Do you feel there is a clear definition of data accountability and responsibility in your organization? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightData governance should not sit as an island in your organization. It must continuously align with the organization’s enterprise governance function. |
Info-Tech’s Data Platform FrameworkData pipeline for versatile and scalable data delivery
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What are the data platform and practice and why are they needed?
Does your data platform effectively serve your reporting and analytics capabilities? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightInfo-Tech’s approach is driven by business goals and leverages standard data practice and platform patterns. This enables the implementation of critical and foundational data and analytics components first and subsequently facilitates the evolution and development of the practice and platform over time. |
Info-Tech’s Reporting and Analytics Framework
Formulating an enterprise reporting and analytics strategy requires the business vision and strategies to first be substantiated. Any optimization to the data warehouse, integration, and source layers is in turn driven by the enterprise reporting and analytics strategy.
![]() The current states of your integration and warehouse platforms determine what data can be used for BI and analytics. |
Your enterprise reporting and analytics strategy is driven by your organization’s vision and corporate strategy. |
What is reporting and analytics and why is it needed?
Do you have a strategy to enable self-serve analytics? What does your operating model look like? Have you an analytics CoE? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightFormulating an enterprise reporting and analytics strategy requires the business vision and strategies to first be substantiated. Any optimization to the data warehouse, integration, and source layer is in turn driven by the enterprise reporting and analytics strategy. |
Info-Tech’s Data Architecture Framework
Info-Tech’s methodology:
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What is data architecture and why is it needed?
Is your architecture optimized to sustainably deliver readily available and accessible data to users? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightData architecture is not just about models. Viewing data architecture as just technical data modeling can lead to a data environment that does not aptly serve or support the business. Identify your business’ priorities and adapt your data architecture to those needs. |
What is data quality management and why is it needed?
Do your users have an optimal level of trust and confidence in the quality of the organization’s data? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightData quality suffers most at the point of entry. The resulting domino effect of error propagation makes these errors among the most costly forms of data quality errors. Fix data ingestion, whether through improving your application and database design or improving your data ingestion policy, and you will fix a majority of data quality issues. |
Info-Tech’s Enterprise Content Management Framework
Drivers | Governance | Information Architecture | Process | Policy | Systems Architecture |
Regulatory, Legal –›Efficiency, Cost-Effectiveness –›Customer Service –›User Experience –› |
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What is enterprise content management and why is it needed?“Enterprise Content Management is the systematic collection and organization of information that is to be used by a designated audience – business executives, customers, etc. Neither a single technology nor a methodology nor a process, it is a dynamic combination of strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver information supporting key organizational processes through its entire lifecycle.” (AIIM, 2021)
| Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightECM is critical to becoming a digital and modernized operation, where both structured data (such as sales reports) and unstructured content (such as customer sentiment in social media) are brought together for a 360-degree view of the customer or for a comprehensive legal discovery. |
Metadata management/Data cataloging
Overview
Metadata is structured information that describes, explains, locates, or otherwise makes it easier to retrieve, use, or manage an information resource. Metadata is often called data about data or information about information (NISO). Metadata management is the function that manages and maintains the technology and processes that creates, processes, and stores metadata created by business processes and data.
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Value of Effective Metadata Management
Critical Success Factors of Metadata Management
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Info-Tech’s Data Integration Framework
On one hand…
Data has massive potential to bring insight to an organization when combined and analyzed in creative ways. On the other hand…It is difficult to bring data together from different sources to generate insights and prevent stale data. How can these two ideas be reconciled?Answer: Info-Tech’s Data Integration Onion Framework summarizes an organization’s data environment at a conceptual level and is used to design a common data-centric integration environment. |
![]() Info-Tech’s Data Integration Onion Framework |
Data-centric integration is the solution you need to bring data together to break down data silos. |
What is data integration and why is it needed?
Is your integration near real time and scalable? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightEvery IT project requires data integration. Any change in the application and database ecosystem requires you to solve a data integration problem. |
Info-Tech’s Master Data Management Framework
Master data management (MDM) “entails control over Master Data values and identifiers that enable consistent use, across systems, of the most accurate and timely data about essential business entities” (DAMA, 2017).
Fundamental objective of MDM: Enable the business to see one view of critical data elements across the organization. |
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What is MDM and why is it needed?
Is there traceability and visibility into your data’s lineage? Does your data pipeline facilitate that single view across the organization? | Who:This research is designed for:
Info-Tech InsightSuccessful MDM requires a comprehensive approach. To be successfully planned, implemented, and maintained it must include effective capabilities in the critical processes and subpractices of data management. |
Data Modeling Framework
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Model hierarchy
| ![]() Info-Tech InsightThe Conceptual model acts as the root of all the models required and used by an organization. |
Data architecture and modeling processes
Info-Tech Insight
The Conceptual data model adds relationships to your business data glossary terms and is the first step of the modeling journey.
Data operations
Objectives of Data Operations Management
Indicators of Successful Data Operations Management
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It works closely with the organization’s technical architecture to support successful data delivery and lifecycle management (data warehouses, repositories, databases, networks, etc.).
Step 1.2
Understand and Align to Business Drivers
Activities
1.2.1 Define your value streams
1.2.2 Identify your business capabilities
1.2.3 Categorize your organization’s key business capabilities
1.2.4 Develop a strategy map tied to data management
This step will guide you through the following activities:
| Outcomes of this step
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Build Business Context and Drivers
Step 1.1 | Step 1.2 | Step 1.3 | Step 1.4 |
Identifying value streams
Value streams connect business goals to organization’s value realization activities. They enable an organization to create and capture value in the marketplace by engaging in a set of interconnected activities.There are several key questions to ask when endeavouring to identify value streams. |
Key Questions
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1.2.1 Define value streams
1-3 hoursInput: Business strategy/goals, Financial statements, Info-Tech’s industry-specific business architecture
Output: List of organization-specific value streams, Detailed value stream definition(s)
Materials: Whiteboard/kanban board, Info-Tech’s Reference Architecture Template – contact your Account Representative for details, Other industry standard reference architecture models: BIZBOK, APQC, etc., Info-Tech’s Archimate models
Participants: Enterprise/Business Architect, Business Analysts, Business Unit Leads, CIO, Departmental Executive & Senior managers
Unify the organization’s perspective on how it creates value.
- Write a short description of the value stream that includes a statement about the value provided and a clear start and end for the value stream. Validate the accuracy of the descriptions with your key stakeholders.
- Consider:
- How does the organization deliver those benefits?
- How does the customer receive the benefits?
- What is the scope of your value stream? What will trigger the stream to start and what will the final value be?
- Avoid:
- Don’t start with a blank page. Use Info-Tech’s business architecture models for sample value streams.
Contact your Account Representative for access to Info-Tech’s Reference Architecture Template
Define or validate the organization’s value streams
Value streams connect business goals to the organization’s value realization activities. These value realization activities, in turn, depend on data. If the organization does not have a business architecture function to conduct and guide Activity 1.2.1, you can leverage the following approach:
| Align data management to the organization’s value realization activities.Value streams enable the organization to create or capture value in the market in which it operates by engaging in a set of interconnected activities. Info-Tech InsightYour organization’s value streams and the associated business capabilities require effectively managed and governed data. Without this, you could face elevated operational costs, missed opportunities, eroded stakeholder satisfaction, negative impact to reputation and brand, and/or increased exposure to business risk. |
Example of value streams – Retail Banking
Value streams connect business goals to the organization’s value realization activities.Example value stream descriptions for: Retail Banking
Value streams enable the organization to create or capture value in the market in which it operates by engaging in a set of interconnected activities. | ![]() |
For this value stream, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Retail Banking.
Example of value streams – Higher Education
Value streams connect business goals to the organization’s value realization activities.Example value stream descriptions for: Higher Education
Value streams enable the organization to create or capture value in the market in which it operates by engaging in a set of interconnected activities. | ![]() |
For this value stream, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Higher Education.
Example of value streams – Local Government
Value streams connect business goals to the organization’s value realization activities.Example value stream descriptions for: Local Government
Value streams enable the organization to create or capture value in the market in which it operates by engaging in a set of interconnected activities. | ![]() |
For this value stream, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Local Government.
Example of value streams – Manufacturing
Value streams connect business goals to the organization’s value realization activities.Example value stream descriptions for: Manufacturing
Value streams enable the organization to create or capture value in the market in which it operates by engaging in a set of interconnected activities. | ![]() |
For this value stream, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Manufacturing.
Define the organization’s business capabilities in a business capability map
A business capability defines what a business does to enable value creation. Business capabilities represent stable business functions and typically will have a defined business outcome. Business capabilities can be thought of as business terms defined using descriptive nouns such as “Marketing” or “Research and Development.” If your organization doesn’t already have a business capability map, you can leverage the following approach to build one. This initiative requires a good understanding of the business. By working with the right stakeholders, you can develop a business capability map that speaks a common language and accurately depicts your business. Working with the stakeholders as described in the slide entitled “Define or validate the organization’s value streams”:
| Align data management to the organization’s value realization activities.Info-Tech InsightA business capability map can be thought of as a visual representation of your organization’s business capabilities and hence represents a view of what your data management program must support. For more information, refer to Info-Tech’s Document Your Business Architecture. |
1.2.2 Identify your business capabilities
Input: List of confirmed value streams and their related business capabilities
Output: Business capability map with value streams for your organization
Materials: Your existing business capability map, Business Alignment worksheet provided in the Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool, Info-Tech’s Document Your Business Architecture blueprint
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Data stewards, Data custodians, Data leads and administrators
Confirm your organization's existing business capability map or initiate the formulation of a business capability map:
- If you have an existing business capability map, meet with the relevant business owners/stakeholders to confirm that the content is accurate and up to date. Confirm the value streams (how your organization creates and captures value) and their business capabilities reflect the organization’s current business environment.
- If you do not have an existing business capability map, complete this activity to initiate the formulation of a map (value streams and related business capabilities):
- Define the organization’s value streams. Meet with senior leadership and other key business stakeholders to define how your organization creates and captures value.
- Define the relevant business capabilities. Meet with senior leadership and other key business stakeholders to define the business capabilities.
Note: A business capability defines what a business does to enable value creation. Business capabilities are business terms defined using nouns such as “Marketing” or “Research and Development.” They represent stable business functions, are unique and independent of one another, and typically will have a defined business outcome.
Example business capability map – Retail BankingA business capability map can be thought of as a visual representation of your organization’s business capabilities and hence represents a view of what your data governance program must support.Validate your business capability map with the right stakeholders, including your executive team, business unit leaders, and/or other key stakeholders. Info-Tech Tip: Leverage your business capability map verification session with these key stakeholders as a prime opportunity to share and explain the role of data and data governance in supporting the very value realization capabilities under discussion. This will help to build awareness and visibility of the data management program. |
Example business capability map for: Retail Banking
For this business capability map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Retail Banking. |
Example business capability map – Higher EducationA business capability map can be thought of as a visual representation of your organization’s business capabilities and hence represents a view of what your data governance program must support.Validate your business capability map with the right stakeholders, including your executive team, business unit leaders, and/or other key stakeholders. Info-Tech Tip: Leverage your business capability map verification session with these key stakeholders as a prime opportunity to share and explain the role of data and data governance in supporting the very value realization capabilities under discussion. This will help to build awareness and visibility of the data management program. | Example business capability map for: Higher Education
For this business capability map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Higher Education. |
Example business capability map – Local GovernmentA business capability map can be thought of as a visual representation of your organization’s business capabilities and hence represents a view of what your data governance program must support.Validate your business capability map with the right stakeholders, including your executive team, business unit leaders, and/or other key stakeholders. Info-Tech Tip: Leverage your business capability map verification session with these key stakeholders as a prime opportunity to share and explain the role of data and data governance in supporting the very value realization capabilities under discussion. This will help to build awareness and visibility of the data governance program. | Example business capability map for: Local Government
For this business capability map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Local Government. |
Example business capability map – ManufacturingA business capability map can be thought of as a visual representation of your organization’s business capabilities and hence represents a view of what your data governance program must support.Validate your business capability map with the right stakeholders, including your executive team, business unit leaders, and/or other key stakeholders. Info-Tech Tip: Leverage your business capability map verification session with these key stakeholders as a prime opportunity to share and explain the role of data and data governance in supporting the very value realization capabilities under discussion. This will help to build awareness and visibility of the data governance program. | Example business capability map for: Manufacturing
For this business capability map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Manufacturing. |
Example business capability map – RetailA business capability map can be thought of as a visual representation of your organization’s business capabilities and hence represents a view of what your data governance program must support.Validate your business capability map with the right stakeholders, including your executive team, business unit leaders, and/or other key stakeholders. Info-Tech Tip: Leverage your business capability map verification session with these key stakeholders as a prime opportunity to share and explain the role of data and data governance in supporting the very value realization capabilities under discussion. This will help to build awareness and visibility of the data governance program. | Example business capability map for: Retail
For this business capability map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Retail. |
1.2.3 Categorize your organization’s key capabilities
Input: Strategic insight from senior business stakeholders on the business capabilities that drive value for the organization
Output: Business capabilities categorized and prioritized (e.g. cost advantage creators, competitive advantage differentiators, high value/high risk) See next slide for an example
Materials: Your existing business capability map or the business capability map derived in Activity 1.2.2
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Data stewards, Data custodians, Data governance working group
Determine which capabilities are considered high priority in your organization.
- Categorize or heatmap the organization’s key capabilities. Consult with senior and other key business stakeholders to categorize and prioritize the business’ capabilities. This will aid in ensuring your data governance future-state planning is aligned with the mandate of the business. One approach to prioritizing capabilities with business stakeholders is to examine them through the lens of cost advantage creators, competitive advantage differentiators, and/or by high value/high risk.
- Identify cost advantage creators. Focus on capabilities that drive a cost advantage for your organization. Highlight these capabilities and prioritize programs that support them.
- Identify competitive advantage differentiators. Focus on capabilities that give your organization an edge over rivals or other players in your industry.
This categorization/prioritization exercise helps highlight prime areas of opportunity for building use cases, determining prioritization, and the overall optimization of data and data governance.
For more information, refer to Info-Tech’s Document Your Business Architecture.
Example of business capabilities categorization or heatmapping – RetailThis exercise is useful in ensuring the data governance program is focused and aligned to support the priorities and direction of the business.
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Example: Retail
For this business capability map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Retail. |
1.2.4 Develop a strategy map tied to data management
Input: Strategic objectives as outlined by the organization’s business strategy and confirmed by senior leaders
Output: A strategy map that maps your organizational strategic objectives to value streams, business capabilities, and ultimately data programs
Materials: Your existing business capability map or the one created in Activity 1.2.2, Business strategy (see next slide for an example)
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Data stewards, Data custodians, Data governance working group
Identify the strategic objectives for the business. Knowing the key strategic objectives will drive business–data governance alignment. It’s important to make sure the right strategic objectives of the organization have been identified and are well understood.
- Meet with senior business leaders and other relevant stakeholders to help identify and document the key strategic objectives for the business.
- Leverage their knowledge of the organization’s business strategy and strategic priorities to visually represent how these map to value streams, business capabilities, and ultimately data and data governance needs and initiatives. Tip: Your map is one way to visually communicate and link the business strategy to other levels of the organization.
- Confirm the strategy mapping with other relevant stakeholders.
Example of a strategy map tied to data management
Info-Tech Tip: Start with the strategic objectives, then map the value streams that will ultimately drive them. Next, link the key capabilities that enable each value stream. Then map the data and data governance initiatives that support those capabilities. This process will help you prioritize the data initiatives that deliver the most value to the organization. | Example: Retail
For this strategy map, download Info-Tech’s Industry Reference Architecture for Retail. |
Step 1.3
Build High-Value Use Cases for Data Management
Activities
1.3.1 Build high-value use cases
This step will guide you through the following activities:
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Outcomes of this step
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Build Business Context and Drivers
Step 1.1 | Step 1.2 | Step 1.3 | Step 1.4 |
1.3.1 Build high-value use cases
Input: Value streams and business capabilities as defined by business leaders, Business stakeholders’ subject area expertise, Data custodian systems, integration, and data knowledge
Output: Use cases that articulate data-related challenges, needs, or opportunities that are tied to defined business capabilities and hence, if addressed, will deliver measurable value to the organization
Materials: Your business capability map from Activity 1.2.2, Info-Tech’s Data Use Case Framework Template, Whiteboard or flip charts (or shared screen if working remotely), Markers/pens
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Data stewards and business SMEs, Data custodians, Data leads and administrators
This business needs gathering activity will highlight and create relevant use cases around data-related problems or opportunities that are clear and contained and, if addressed, will deliver value to the organization.
- Bring together key business stakeholders (data owner, stewards, SMEs) from a particular line of business as well the relevant data custodian(s) to build cases for their units. Leverage the business capability map you created for facilitating this act.
- Leverage Info-Tech’s Data Use Case Framework Template as seen on the next slide.
- Have the stakeholders move through each breakout session outlined in the use case worksheet. Use flip charts or a whiteboard to brainstorm and document their thoughts.
- Debrief and document results in the Data Use Case Framework Template.
- Repeat this exercise with as many lines of the business as possible, leveraging your business capability map to guide your progress and align with business value.
Tip: Don’t conclude these use case discussions without substantiating what measures of success will be used to demonstrate the business value of the effort to produce the desired future state, as relevant to each particular use case.
Download Info-Tech’s Data Use Case Framework Template
Data use cases |
Sample Data |
The following is the list of use cases as articulated by key stakeholders at [Organization Name].
The stakeholders see these as areas that are relevant and highly valuable for delivering strategic value to [Organization Name].
Use Case 1: Customer/Student/Patient/Resident 360 View
Use Case 2: Project/Department Financial Performance
Use Case 3: Vendor Lifecycle Management
Use Case 4: Project Risk Management
Prioritization of use cases
Use case 1 | Sample Data |
Problem statement:
- We are not realizing our full growth potential because we do not have a unified 360 view of our customers/clients/[name of external stakeholder].
- This impacts: our cross-selling; upselling; talent acquisition and retention; quality of delivery; ability to identify and deliver the right products, markets, and services...
If we could solve this:
- We would be able to better prioritize and position ourselves to meet evolving customer needs.
- We would be able to optimize the use of our limited resources.
Use case 1: challenges, risks, and opportunities | Sample Data |
- What is the number one risk you need to alleviate?
- Loss of potential revenue, whether from existing or net new customers.
- How?
- By not maximizing opportunities with customers or even by losing customers; by not understanding or addressing their greatest needs
- By not being able to win potential new customers because we don’t understand their needs
- How?
- Loss of potential revenue, whether from existing or net new customers.
- What is the number one opportunity you wish to see happen?
- The ability to better understand and anticipate the needs of both existing and potential customers.
- What is the number one pain point you have when working with data?
- I can’t do my job with confidence because it’s not based on comprehensive, sound, reliable data. My group spends significant time reconciling data sets with little time left for data use and analysis.
- What are your challenges in performing the activity today?
- I cannot pull together customer data in a timely manner due to having a high level of dependence on specific individuals with institutional knowledge rather than having easy access to information.
- It takes too much time and effort to pull together what we know about a customer.
- The necessary data is not consolidated or readily/systematically available for consumption.
- These challenges are heightened when dealing with customers across markets.
Use case 1 (cont'd) | Sample Data |
- What does “amazing” look like if we solve this perfectly?
- Employees have immediate, self-service access to necessary information, leading to better and more timely decisions. This results in stronger business and financial growth.
- What other business unit activities/processes will be impacted/improved if we solve this?
- Marketing/bid and proposal, staffing, procurement, and contracting strategy
- What compliance/regulatory/policy concerns do we need to consider in any solution?
- PII, GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, etc.
- What measures of success/change should we use to prove the value of the effort (KPIs/ROI)?
- Win rate, number of services per customer, gross profit, customer retention, customer satisfaction scores, brand awareness, and net promoter score
- What are the steps in the process/activity today?
- Manual aggregation (i.e. pull data from systems into Excel), reliance on unwritten knowledge, seeking IT support, canned reports
Use case 1 (cont'd) | Sample Data |
- What are the applications/systems used at each step?
- Salesforce CRM, Excel, personal MS Access databases, SharePoint
- What data elements (domains) are involved, created, used, or transformed at each step?
- Bid and proposal information, customer satisfaction, forecast data, list of products, corporate entity hierarchy, vendor information, key staffing, recent and relevant news, and competitor intelligence
Use case worksheet
Objective: This business needs gathering activity will help you highlight and create relevant use cases around data-related problems or opportunities. They should be clear and contained and, if addressed, will deliver value to the organization.
1. |
What business capability (or capabilities) in your business area is this use case tied to? |
Examples: Demand Planning, Assortment Planning, Allocation & Replenishment, Fulfillment Planning, Customer Management |
2. |
What are your data-related challenges in performing this today? |
Use case worksheet (cont’d.)
Objective: This business needs gathering activity will help you highlight and create relevant use cases around data-related problems or opportunities. They should be clear and contained and, if addressed, will deliver value to the organization.
3. |
What are the steps in the process/activity today? |
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4. |
What are the applications/systems used at each step today? |
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5. |
What data domains are involved, created, used, or transformed at each step today? |
Use case worksheet (cont’d.)
Objective: This business needs gathering activity will help you highlight and create relevant use cases around data-related problems or opportunities. They should be clear and contained and, if addressed, will deliver value to the organization.
6. |
What does an ideal or improved state look like? |
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7. |
What other business units, business capabilities, activities, or processes will be impacted and/or improved if this were to be solved? |
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8. |
Who are the stakeholders impacted by these changes? Who needs to be consulted? |
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9. |
What are the risks to the organization (business capability, revenue, reputation, customer loyalty, etc.) if this is not addressed? |
Use case worksheet (cont’d.)
Objective: This business needs gathering activity will help you highlight and create relevant use cases around data-related problems or opportunities. They should be clear and contained and, if addressed, will deliver value to the organization.
10. |
What compliance, regulatory, or policy concerns do we need to consider in any solution? |
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11. |
What measures of success or change should we use to prove the value of the effort (KPIs/ROI)? What is the measurable business value of doing this? |
Use case worksheet (cont’d.)
Objective: This business needs gathering activity will help you highlight and create relevant use cases around data-related problems or opportunities. They should be clear and contained and, if addressed, will deliver value to the organization.
10. |
Conclusion: What are the data capabilities that need to be optimized, addressed, or improved to support or help realize the business capability (or capabilities) highlighted in this use case?(Tip: This will inform your future-state data capabilities optimization planning and roadmapping activities.) |
Data Management Workshop
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[SAMPLE] |
Problem Statement
Inability to provide insights to DPH due to inconsistent data, inaccurate reporting, missing governance, and unknown data sources resulting in decisions that impact citizens being made without accurate information. |
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Challenges
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What Does Amazing Look Like?
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Related Processes/Impact
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Compliance
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Benefits/KPIs
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Data Management Workshop
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[SAMPLE] |
Problem Statement Inability to provide insights to DPH due to inconsistent data, inaccurate reporting, missing governance, and unknown data sources resulting in decisions that impact citizens being made without accurate information. | |||
Current Steps in Process Activity (Systems)
| Data Flow diagram
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Systems | Data Management Dimensions
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Data Management Workshop
| [SAMPLE] |
Problem Statement Inability to provide insights to DPH due to inconsistent data, inaccurate reporting, missing governance, and unknown data sources resulting in decisions that impact citizens being made without accurate information. | |
List Future Process Steps Prior to COVID-19 Emergency Response:
After COVID-19 Emergency Response:
| Future Process and Data Flow
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Step 1.4
Create a Vision and Guiding Principles for Data Management
Activities
1.4.1 Craft a vision
1.4.2 Create guiding principles
This step will guide you through the following activities:
| Outcomes of this step
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Build Business Context and Drivers
Step 1.1 | Step 1.2 | Step 1.3 | Step 1.4 |
1.4.1 Craft a vision
Input: Organizational vision and mission statements, Stakeholder survey results and elicitation findings, Use cases, Business and data capability map
Output: Vision and mission statements
Materials: Markers and pens, Whiteboard, Online whiteboard, Vision samples and templates
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Data managers, Data owners, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor
Complete the vision statement to set the direction, the “why,” for the changes we’re making. The vision is a reference point that should galvanize everyone in the organization and set guardrails for technical and process decisions to follow.
- Bring together key business stakeholders (content owners, SMEs, and relevant IT custodians) to craft a data management vision statement.
- Start by brainstorming keywords, such as customer-focused, empower the business, service excellence, findable and manageable, protected, accessible, paperless.
- Highlight the keywords that resonate most with the group. Refer to example vision statements for ideas.
Create a common data management vision that is consistently communicated to the organizationA data management program should be an enterprise-wide initiative.
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![]() Info-Tech Tips
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Create compelling vision and mission statements for the organization’s future data management practice
A vision represents the way your organization intends to be in the future.
A clear vision statement helps align the entire organization to the same end goal. Your vision should be brief, concise, and inspirational; it is attempting to say a lot in a few words, so be very thoughtful and careful with the words you choose. Consider your strengths across departments – business and IT, the consumers of your services, and your current/future commitments to service quality. Remember that a vision statement is internally facing for other members of your company throughout the process. |
A mission expresses why you exist.
While your vision is a declaration of where your organization aspires to be in the future, your mission statement should communicate the fundamental purpose of the data management practice. It identifies the function of the practice, what it produces, and its high-level goals that are linked to delivering timely, high-quality, relevant, and valuable data to business processes and end users. Consider if the practice is responsible for providing data for analytical and/or operational use cases. A mission statement should be a concise and clear statement of purpose for both internal and external stakeholders. |
“The Vision is the What, Where or Who you want the company to become. The Mission is the WHY the company exists, it is your purpose, passion or cause.” (Doug Meyer-Cuno, Forbes, 2021) |
Data Management Vision and Mission Statements: Draft
Vision and mission statements crafted by the workshop participants. These statements are to be reviewed, refined into a single version, approved by members of the senior leadership team, and then communicated to the wider organization.
Corporate |
Group 1 |
Group 2 |
Vision:
Create and maintain an institution of world-class excellence. |
Vision: | Vision: |
Mission:
Foster an economic and financial environment conducive to sustainable economic growth and development. |
Mission: | Mission: |
Information management framework
The information management framework is a way to organize all the ECM program’s guidelines and artifacts
![]() |
The vision is a statement about the organization’s goals and provides a basis to guide decisions and rally employees toward a shared goal. The principles or themes communicate the organization’s priorities for its information management program. Policies are a set of official guidelines that determine a course of action. For example: Company is committed to safety for its employees. Procedures are a set of actions for doing something. For example: Company employees will wear protective gear while on the production floor. |
Craft your vision
Use the insights you gathered from users and stakeholders to develop a vision statement
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The vision should be short, memorable, inspirational and draw a clear picture of what that future-state data management experience looks like.
Is it modern and high end, with digital self-service? Is it a trusted and transparent steward of customer assets? |
1.4.2 Create guiding principles
Input: Sample data management guiding principles, Stakeholder survey results and elicitation findings, Use cases, Business and data capability map
Output: Data management guiding principles
Materials: Markers and pens, Whiteboard, Online whiteboard, Guiding principles samples and templates
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Data managers, Data owners, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor
Draft a set of guiding principles that express your program’s values as a framework for decisions and actions and keep the data strategy alive.
- Bring together key business stakeholders (data owners, SMEs, and relevant IT custodians) to craft a set of data management guiding principles.
- Refer to industry sample guiding principles for data management.
- Discuss what’s important to stakeholders and owners, e.g. security, transparency, integrity. Good guiding principles address real challenges.
- A helpful tip: Craft principles as “We will…” statements for the problems you’ve identified.
Twelve data management universal principles |
[SAMPLE] |
Principle | Definitions |
Data Is Accessible | Data is accessible across the organization based on individuals’ roles and privileges. |
Treat Data as an Asset | Treat data as a most valuable foundation to make right decisions at the right time. Manage the data lifecycle across organization. |
Manage Data | Define strategic enterprise data management that defines, integrates, and effectively retrieves data to generate accurate, consistent insights. |
Define Ownership & Stewardship | Organizations should clearly appoint data owners and data stewards and ensure all team members understand their role in the company’s data management system. |
Use Metadata | Use metadata to ensure data is properly managed by tacking how data has been collected, verified, reported, and analyzed. |
Single Source of Truth | Ensure the master data maintenance across the organization. |
Ensure Data Quality | Ensure data integrity though out the lifecycle of data by establishing a data quality management program. |
Data Is Secured | Classify and maintain the sensitivity of the data. |
Maximize Data Use | Extend the organization’s ability to make the most of its data. |
Empower the Users | Foster data fluency and technical proficiency through training to maximize optimal business decision making. |
Share the Knowledge | Share and publish the most valuable insights appropriately. |
Consistent Data Definitions | Establish a business data glossary that defines consistent business definitions and usage of the data. |
Create a Data Management Roadmap
Phase 2
Assess Data Management and Build Your Roadmap
Phase 11.1 Review the Data Management Framework 1.2 Understand and Align to Business Drivers 1.3 Build High-Value Use Cases 1.4 Create a Vision | Phase 2
2.1 Assess Data Management 2.2 Build Your Data Management Roadmap 2.3 Organize Business Data Domains |
This phase will walk you through the following activities:
| This phase involves the following participants:
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Step 2.1
Assess Your Data Management Capabilities
Activities
2.1.1 Define current state of data management capabilities
2.1.2 Set target state and identify gaps
This step will guide you through the following activities:
| Outcomes of this step
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Assess Data Management and Build Your Roadmap
Step 2.1 | Step 2.2 | Step 2.3 |
Define current stateThe Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool will help you analyze your organization’s data requirements, identify data management strategies, and systematically develop a plan for your target data management practice.
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2.1.1 Define current state
Input: Stakeholder survey results and elicitation findings, Use cases, Business and data management capability map
Output: Current-state data management capabilities
Materials: Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor, Data leads, Data custodians
Assign a maturity level value from 1 to 5 for each question in the assessment tool, organized into capabilities, e.g. Data Governance, Data Quality, Risk.
- Bring together key business stakeholders (data owners, SMEs, and relevant IT custodians) to assign current-state maturity levels in each question of the worksheet.
- Remember that there is more distance between levels 4 and 5 than there is between 1 and 2 – the distance between levels is not even throughout.
- To help assign values, think of the higher levels as representing cross-enterprise standardization, monitored for continuous improvement, formalized and standardized, while the lower levels mean applied within individual units, not formalized or tracked for performance.
- In tab 4, “Current State Assessment,” populate a current-state value for each item in the Data Management Capabilities worksheet.
- Once you’ve entered values in tab 4, a visual and summary report of the results will be generated on tab 5, “Current State Results.”
2.1.2 Set target state and identify gaps
Input: Stakeholder survey results and elicitation findings, Use cases, Business and data management capability map to identify priorities
Output: Target-state data management capabilities, Gaps identification and analysis
Materials: Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor, Data leads, Data custodians
Assign a maturity level value from 1 to 5 for each question in the assessment tool, organized into capabilities, e.g., Data Governance, Data Quality, Risk.
- Bring together key business stakeholders (data owners, SMEs, and relevant IT custodians) to assign target-state maturity levels in each question of the worksheet.
- Remember that there is more distance between levels 4 and 5 than there is between 1 and 2 – the distance between levels is not even throughout.
- To help assign values, think of the higher levels as representing cross-enterprise standardization, monitored for continuous improvement, formalized and standardized, while the lower levels mean applied within individual units, not formalized or tracked for performance.
- In tab 6, “Target State & Gap Analysis,” enter maturity values in each item of the Capabilities worksheet in the Target State column.
- Once you’ve assigned both target-state and current-state values, the tool will generate a gap analysis chart on tab 7, “Gap Analysis Results,” where you can start to decide first- and second-line priorities.
Step 2.2
Build Your Data Management Roadmap
Activities
2.2.1 Describe gaps
2.2.2 Define gap initiatives
2.2.2 Build a data management roadmap
This step will guide you through the following activities:
| Outcomes of this step
|
Assess Data Management and Build Your Roadmap
Step 2.1 | Step 2.2 | Step 2.3 |
2.2.1 Describe gaps
Input: Target-state maturity level
Output: Detail and context about gaps to lead planners to specific initiatives
Materials: Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor, Data leads, Data custodians
Based on the gaps result, describe the nature of the gap, which will lead to specific initiatives for the data management plan:
- In tab 6, “Target State & Gap Analysis,” the same tab where you entered your target-state maturity level, enter additional context about the nature and extent of each gap in the Gap Description column.
- Based on the best-practices framework we walked through in Phase 1, note the specific areas that are not fully developed in your organization; for example, we don’t have a model of our environment and its integrations, or there isn’t an established data quality practice with proactive monitoring and intervention.
2.2.2 Define gap initiatives
Input: Gaps analysis, Gaps descriptions
Output: Data management initiatives
Materials: Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor, Data leads, Data custodians
Based on the gap analysis, start to define the data management initiatives that will close the gaps and help the organization achieve its target state.
- In tab 6, “Target State & Gap Analysis,” the same tab where you entered your target-state maturity level, note in the Gap Initiative column what actions you can take to address the gap for each item. For example, if we found through diagnostics and use cases that users didn’t understand the meaning of their data or reports, an initiative might be, “Build a standard enterprise business data catalog.”
- It’s an opportunity to brainstorm, to be creative, and think about possibilities. We’ll use the roadmap step to select initiatives from this list.
- There are things we can do right away to make a difference. Acknowledge the resources, talent, and leadership momentum you already have in your organization and leverage those to find activities that will work in your culture. For example, one company held a successful Data Day to socialize the roadmap and engage users.
2.2.3 Build a data management roadmap
Input: Gap initiatives, Target state and current-state assessment
Output: Data management initiatives and roadmap
Materials: Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor, Data leads, Data custodians
Start to list tangible actions you will take to address gaps and achieve data objectives and business goals along with timelines and responsibility:
- With an understanding of your priority areas and specific gaps, and referring back to your use cases, draw up specific initiatives that you can track, measure, and align with your original goals.
- For example, in data governance, initiatives might include:
- Assign data owners and stewards for all data assets.
- Consolidate disparate business data catalogs.
- Create a data governance charter or terms of reference.
- Alongside the initiatives, fill in other detail, especially who is responsible and timing (start and end dates). Assigning responsibility and some time markers will help to keep momentum alive and make the work projects real.
Step 2.3
Organize Business Data Domains
Activities
2.3.1 Define business data domains and assign owners
This step will guide you through the following activities:
| Outcomes of this step
|
Assess Data Management and Build Your Roadmap
Step 2.1 | Step 2.2 | Step 2.3 |
2.3.1 Define business data domains
Input: Target-state maturity level
Output: Detail and context about gaps to lead planners to specific initiatives
Materials: Data Management Assessment and Planning Tool
Participants: Key business stakeholders, Business leads and SMEs, Project team, Project sponsor, Data leads, Data custodians
Identify the key data domains for each line of business, where the data resides, and the main contact or owner.
- We have an understanding of what the business wants to achieve, e.g. build customer loyalty or comply with privacy laws. But where is the data that can help us achieve that? What systems is that data moving and living in and who, if anyone, owns it?
- Define the main business data domains apart from what system it may be spread over. Use the worksheet on the next slide as an example.
- Examples of business data domains: Customer, Product, Vendor.
- Each domain should have owners and associated business processes. Assign data domain owners, application owners, and business process owners.
Business and data domains | [SAMPLE] |
Business Domain | App/Data Domains | Business Stewards | Application Owners | Business Owners |
Client Experience and Sales Tech | Salesforce (Sales, Service, Experience Clouds), Mulesoft (integration point) | (Any team inputting data into the system) | ||
Quality and Regulatory | Salesforce | |||
Operations | Salesforce, Salesforce Referrals, Excel spreadsheets, SharePoint | |||
Finance | Workday, Sage 300 (AccPac), Salesforce, Moneris | Finance | ||
Risk/Legal | Network share drive/SharePoint | |||
Human Resources | Workday, Network share drive/SharePoint | HR team | ||
Corporate Sales | Salesforce (Sales, Service, Health, Experience Clouds), | |||
Sales and Client Success | Mitel, Outlook, PDF intake forms, Workday, Excel. | Sales & Client Success Director, Marketing Director | CIO, Sales & Client Success Director, Marketing Director |
Embrace the technologyMake the available data governance tools and technology work for you:
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Additional SupportIf you would like additional support, have our analysts guide you through other phases as part of an Info-Tech Workshop. |
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Contact your account representative for more information.
|
To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team. Info-Tech analysts will join you and your team at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech’s historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop. |
The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:
|
Related Info-Tech Research
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Build a Robust and Comprehensive Data StrategyKey to building and fostering a data-driven culture. |
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Understand the Data and Analytics LandscapeOptimize your data and analytics environment. |
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Build a Data Pipeline for Reporting and AnalyticsData architecture best practices to prepare data for reporting and analytics. |
Research Contributors
Name | Position | Company |
Anne Marie Smith | Board of Directors | DAMA International |
Andy Neill | Practice Lead, Data & Analytics | Info-Tech Research Group |
Dirk Coetsee | Research Director, Data & Analytics | Info-Tech Research Group |
Graham Price | Executive Advisor, Advisory Executive Services | Info-Tech Research Group |
Igor Ikonnikov | Research Director, Data & Analytics | Info-Tech Research Group |
Jean Bujold | Senior Workshop Delivery Director | Info-Tech Research Group |
Mario Cantin | Chief Data Strategist | Prodago |
Martin Sykora | Director | NexJ Analytics |
Michael Blaha | Author, Patterns of Data Modeling | Consultant |
Rajesh Parab | Research Director, Data & Analytics | Info-Tech Research Group |
Ranjani Ranganathan | Product Manager, Research – Workshop Delivery | Info-Tech Research Group |
Reddy Doddipalli | Senior Workshop Director | Info-Tech Research Group |
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