While developing a basic definition of Data Governance (DG) is easy, creating an operating model that an organization will adopt can be difficult. Consider these areas when constructing an organization's operating model:
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Value of data to the organization: If an organization sells data, obviously DG has a huge business impact. Organizations that use data as a crucial commodity (e.g. Facebook, Amazon) will need an operating model that reflects the role of the data. For organizations where data is an operational lubricant, the form of DG will be less intense.
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Business model: Decentralized business vs. centralized, local vs. international, etc. are factors that influence how business occurs, and therefore, how the DG operating model is defined. Links with specific IT strategy, Data Architecture, and application integration functions should be reflected in the target operating framework design (per previous post on DMBoK Figure 16).
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Cultural factors: Such as acceptance of discipline and adaptability to change. Some organizations will resist the imposition of governance by policy and principle. Governance strategy will need to advocate for an operating model that fits the organizational culture, while still progressing change.
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Impact of regulation: Highly regulated organizations will have a different mindset and operating model of DG than those less regulated. There may be links to the Risk Management group or Legal as well.
Layers of data governance are often part of the solution. This means determining where accountability should reside for stewardship activities, who owns the data, etc. The operating model also defines the interaction between the governance organization and the people responsible for data management projects or initiatives, the engagement of change management activities to introduce this new program, and the model for issue management resolution pathways through governance. This figure shows an example of an operating framework. The example is illustrative. This kind of artifact must be customized to meet the needs of a specific organization.
