When it comes to executing a data strategy for your business, access to that data is important. You need to spend money on the right processes, team members, and tools to maintain data governance. What is data governance? It’s a concept that ensures your high-quality data is maintained throughout the life cycle of your organization.
By broadening your views on this concept, you’ll come up with a clearly defined strategy. Here are six ways to improve your data governance framework.
1. Get Data Management Ownership Involved
Setting data ownership in the post- and pre-close phases can ensure a smooth transition to these operations from the start. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which data and records are required, especially when it comes to commingled data. The requirements for authorization, data ownerships, and entitlement should be included with the purchase agreement as well as the transition services agreement. Working with a trusted advisor who’s familiar with these terms and agreements can help your business improve its negotiations, which leads to a successful closure.
2. Create a Clear Plan
These agreements should clearly define the ownership of the data, but it’s also important to understand which teams operate them. You want to write the agreement in a language that’s understood by everyone. You may want to include this information in an e-mail newsletter or an intranet website that’s associated with the announcement or deal. No matter which option you choose, you should not let these data decisions fall to the wayside or you’ll waste time and resources when issues arise and need to be handled.
3. Use an Interim Reporting Tool
You should also agree to an interim reporting tool that increases the visibility of your business. This tool should be used for data locations and other handling methods. You want to decide on this tool as soon before closing the deal in an effort to increase its value. In addition, an interim reporting tool can also ensure that the data storage is safe and secure.
One solution is to store your data on a cloud infrastructure, which makes the data easy to use and access. You may also want to consider using an analytics tools that can help you make better business decisions based on combined or merged data sets. Artificial intelligence and advanced technology have been on the rise to accommodate the needs of corporations and enterprises. While most of these tools are new, these concepts provide your business with immediate benefits once operations begin.
4. Establish Clear Data Retention Policies
Most corporations and enterprises have a strict data retention policy in place, but these guidelines rarely address transaction issues. When writing your data retention policy, you should consider who is responsible for the financial information, or whether the seller should be held accountable when issues do arise. Additional data retention decisions should also be made when that data is removed from the seller’s systems. For example, the seller is also responsible for removing the records that are associated with the business.
5. Maintain Compliance & Security Protocols
There has been an increase risk with the transfer of data during and after a deal. Whenever you’re sending data or migrating it to a new database, you should follow the guidelines and protocols. Due to increased consumer fears and government regulations over data security, this is important for confidential and sensitive information. These issues and risks should be addressed before the transition takes place.
6. Set New Reporting Processes & Leverage RPA
You should also invest in technology that can speed up the process during the transition period. For example, robotic process automation (RPA) can integrate data into an interim tool, which saves you hours of time. In addition, this allows IT teams to focus on the capabilities on these tools and how they are being used. You need to carefully consider data management and operational reporting in any business decision or situation that takes place.
Even though there are new tools on the market, there are still some classic approaches. A firm that has experience with data governance can help you identify the potential risks and what you should do to increase your chances of success. They can also help your business successfully close a deal.
