making your metadata governance program for unstructured content sustainable
DESCRIPTION
This session will present governance problems and strategies, along with a set of tools to help you evaluate your metadata governance program or get it back on track. Presented at DGIQ conference, June 2012.TRANSCRIPT
AKneifel and Associates An Information Management Consultancy
Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
We help you build information environments where 1+1=3
Copyright © 2012. A.Kneifel and Associates. All Rights Reserved.
Making Your Metadata Governance Program for Unstructured Information Sustainable
Alix Kneifel
6/26/12
Presented at:
2012 Data Governance and Information Quality Conference (DGIQ)
AKneifel and Associates
An Information Management Consultancy
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Agenda
Definition of information governance
Benefits of information governance and governing metadata on
unstructured information
Information governance components
8 common pitfalls relating to information governance
8 do’s and don’ts for a sustainable information governance
framework
Questions and Answers
AKneifel and Associates
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Definitions
Information Governance
A active framework for enabling an organization to manage its information
as a business asset. It includes people, policies, standards, and processes
for reducing ambiguity and risk and for enabling an organization to
effectively use it information to achieve business goals.
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Characteristics of a sustainable
metadata governance program
Create a metadata governance program that can be used for today’s
and tomorrow’s needs
Useful
Data Integrity
Scalable
Reliable
Predictable
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Benefits of information governance
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Embraces a broad perspective:
Engages the appropriate people in the organization
Aligns terms, data, business processes and business needs
Sets priorities for implementing change: systems, processes, products,
end users, etc.
Provides structure and order at an operational level
Defines, disambiguates, relates and maps
Prevents unauthorized changes, minimizes disruptions to the user
environment
Benefits of information governance
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Benefits of governing metadata on unstructured information
Small data set
Pain point for everybody!
Metadata on unstructured information is a
data set that crosses functions
Data values may come from master data
or taxonomy
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Information governance framework
Data Stewards
WHO
Governance Committee
and decision structure
WHO
Change management
process
HOW Operating Guidelines
and Procedures
WHEN, WHERE
Policies and standards
WHY
Metadata Baseline
WHAT
Operational functions
• Organizational Participation • Lifecycle Management • Solution Quality • User Experience
Business alignment
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Common governance pitfalls
1. Unclear metadata objectives
2. Missing governance components
3. One governance framework for everything
4. An ineffective governance committee
5. An ineffective change management process
6. No metadata history exists
7. Metadata free-for-all (users know best!)
8. An outdated metadata governance framework
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Governance Pitfall 1: Unclear metadata objectives
Issues
Metadata objectives are not clearly defined Improve information findability
Support Records & Information Management (RIM)
Protect information
Associate related information
Include information into the ‘pool’ of transactional data or products
Strategy
Meet the organization’s goals and end user needs
Be implementable! Start with industry standards (e.g., Dublin Core, ISO/IEC 11179)
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Governance Pitfall 2:
Missing governance components
Data Stewards
WHO
Governance Committee and
decision structure
WHO
Change management
process
HOW Operating
Guidelines and Procedures
WHEN, WHERE
Policies and standards
WHY
Metadata WHAT
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An Information Management Consultancy
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Governance Pitfalls 3:
One governance framework for everything
Issues
Too much emphasis on ‘governance’ and not on ‘what’ is being governed
Strategy
Develop separate governance frameworks for different data sets
Combine frameworks that overlap
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SMEs, IT/System Owners, other Stakeholders Extended
Governance Pitfall 4:
An ineffective governance committee
Issues
Governance committee members don’t know why they’re on the board
The sponsor doesn’t champion the cause
All members come from IT (or business functions)
Committee meetings are poorly attended!
Strategy
Include advisory and doing governance roles
Define an authority model that works for the board
Define the governance committee during the development phase
Sponsor
Governance Board
Chair Content owner reps
Business application reps IT system reps End user reps
Advisory
Doers
Data Stewards
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Governance Pitfall 5:
The change management process is ineffective
Issues Out-of-balance authority between change approvers and implementers
Changes are approved but not implemented!
Changes are not made across all systems
Strategy Include all steps in the change management process
Assign roles and clear responsibilities to each step
Merit Assessment
Request Impact
Analysis
Resolution Validation Implementation
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Governance Pitfall 6: No metadata history exists
Issues
No record of the governance committee’s decisions exists
No ability to compare the current metadata against the past
Changes are made directly to a system
Strategy
Retain the group’s decisions!
Manage the metadata as an artifact
Maintain artifacts of all changes to
consuming applications
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Governance Pitfalls:
7. Metadata free-for-all (users know best!)
Issues Metadata exists but users still can’t
find information!
No metadata consistency across ECM sites
The organization isn’t achieving its goal to improve search across different applications
Strategy Create and manage an enterprise metadata
standard
Develop a taxonomy
Include end-user representatives on the governance board
Build user input into the process
Have a strategy to auto-populate metadata
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Au
dits
Governance Pitfall 8:
An outdated governance framework
Issues
Meta data changes occur outside the governance process
More information findability complaints this year then last year
Strategy
Include an audit plan for implementation and use
Have a plan to continually monitor and adjust
the governance framework
Metadata to meet the business purposes
Data
Stewards
Committee
CM process
Operating
Procedures
Policies and
standards
Baseline ECM
PDM
CRM
SharePoint
RM system
Applications
Support RIM
Operational efficiency
Content findability
Associate related content
Accurate reporting
Business Purpose
Pe
rform
an
ce
As
se
ss
me
nt
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Metadata governance sustainability dos and don’ts
1. DO clearly define your metadata business objectives
2. DO have a scalable governance framework that includes all
components
3. DON’T create one governance framework to govern everything
4. DO include members on the governance committee from across the
organization who have agreed to their roles and responsibilities
5. DO have a scalable change management process that includes all
steps
6. DO baseline your metadata and maintain it as an artifact
7. DON’T give end-users free rein of the metadata
8. DO monitor and improve your governance framework and your
metadata
AKneifel and Associates
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Conclusion
Metadata is a practical dataset that connects unstructured information and
structured data to meet business objectives
Remember these essential components for a strong governance program
Metadata baseline
Governance committee
Policies and standards
Data stewards
Change management process
Operating procedures
Remember these characteristics for metadata and governance sustainability
Useful
Data Integrity
Scalable
Reliable
Predictable
Avoid the pitfalls outlined in this presentation!
AKneifel and Associates
An Information Management Consultancy
7/30/2012 Copyright © 2012. A.Kneifel and Associates. All Rights Reserved. 20
Q&A
Thank you for attending!
Contact Information:
(818) 326-6549
AKneifel and Associates
www.akneifel.com