How Is Data Governance Different From Data Management?

It’s important to know how data governance differs from data management, especially as data becomes more central to decision-making.

Think of data governance as the rulebook for how your company handles data. It’s about setting the policies, procedures, and standards to ensure your data is secure, compliant, and quality.

It’s like establishing a framework for how data should be used, who has access to it, and how it’s protected.

On the other hand, data management is more about the day-to-day data handling. It’s focused on how data is collected, stored, and processed. Ensuring it’s accurate, organized, and readily available when needed. If data governance sets the rules, then data management ensures those rules are followed. Both are key to ensuring your business data stays valuable, secure, and useful.

But how? That’s the real question.

How Is Data Governance Different From Data Management?

There are so many differences between them. Here is a glance of their difference-

Focus:

Data Governance: Defines rules, policies, and standards for data usage.

Data Management: Handles the practical processes of storing, organizing, and accessing data.

Purpose:

Data Governance: Ensures secure, ethical, and compliant data usage.

Data Management: Ensures data is accurate, accessible, and usable for operations.

How Do Data Governance And Data Management Work Together?

Data governance and management work together to ensure that data is properly handled and used securely, competently, and in a valuable way for the organization. Here’s how they complement each other:

Setting the Rules and Managing the Data

Data governance defines the policies, standards, and guidelines for data usage, while data management focuses on executing those guidelines. Governance sets the framework for how data should be treated like who can access it, how it’s protected, and how its quality is maintained.

Data management, then, ensures that the data is properly collected, stored, processed, and retrieved according to those standards.

Data Quality and Compliance

Data governance ensures that all data-related processes are aligned with compliance requirements, such as GDPR or HIPAA, and that the data is handled ethically and securely.

Data management ensures data is kept accurate, up-to-date, and organized, following the governance rules. Together, they ensure that the data is not only accessible and usable but also complies with all necessary regulations.

Accountability and Ownership

Data governance establishes roles and responsibilities, specifying who is responsible for maintaining data quality, security, and compliance.

Data management follows these guidelines and ensures the right people actively manage, track, and maintain the data daily. Governance sets the expectations; management takes action to meet those expectations.

Facilitating Decision-Making

With clear governance, data management ensures that the data is reliable, organized, and accessible when needed, enabling better business decisions. Governance ensures a strategic approach to managing data while management puts that strategy into practice, ensuring data is in the right place and format for decision-makers.

In summary, data governance and data management are two sides of the same coin:

Governance sets the rules and ensures compliance, while management ensures that the data is handled, stored, and maintained according to those rules. Together, they create a foundation for effective, secure, and reliable data use within an organization.

Which Is More Suitable For Management?

When deciding which is more suitable for management, it is important to know data governance or data management. It depends on what aspect of data you’re focusing on.

Data governance is more suitable for management if you prioritize setting a strategic framework for how data is used, secured, and maintained across the organization.

It involves creating policies, standards, and guidelines to ensure compliance, data quality, and security. This is particularly important in industries where regulatory compliance and data privacy are critical.

On the other hand,

Data management is more suitable if it focuses on the practical, day-to-day handling of data, such as storing, organizing, and processing it to ensure it’s accessible, accurate, and usable for operations. It’s ideal for businesses looking to streamline data flow, improve efficiency, and support real-time decision-making.

Ideally, data governance and management should work in tandem to ensure that data is secure and effectively utilized across the organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is data governance important for my business?

Data governance is critical for ensuring your organization’s data is secure, compliant with regulations (like GDPR or HIPAA), and properly maintained.

It helps mitigate risks, protect sensitive information, and ensure that your business adheres to industry standards and legal requirements.

How does data management support my business operations?

Data management ensures that your data is accurate, accessible, and organized to be effectively used for daily operations.

It helps streamline workflows, enhances decision-making, and supports business intelligence by ensuring employees can access the right data at the right time.

Can data governance and data management work together?

Yes, data governance and data management complement each other. Governance sets the rules and standards, while management ensures that data is handled according to those rules on a practical level.

They create a solid foundation for data security, quality, and efficiency.

How Does Tech delivery Partners Help Data Governance Differ From Data Management?

We understand that while data governance and data management are closely related, they serve different purposes. Data governance is all about setting up the rules and policies to ensure your data is secure, accurate, and compliant with regulations.

We help you create frameworks that define who owns the data, who has access, and how it should be maintained. This gives you the confidence that your data is protected and meets industry standards.

So let’s contact each other and make the business work easily.