Data Governance, Data Quality and MDM – How do they fit together?

By Jim Orr, Director, Enterprise Data Strategy, Harte-Hanks Trillium Software

Data governance, data quality, and MDM; just how do they fit together if at all? This question and others were put to the test at the recent TDWI Summit in Savannah, Georgia. I had the privilege to attend this invitation-only event that brought together leading companies, practitioners, and technology vendors – and focused on MDM, quality, and governance.

As evidenced by the number of great presentations, networking opportunities, and case studies covering several core topics, the overarching themes were clear:
•    MDM success requires data quality and data governance,
•    Enterprise-wide data quality success requires data governance at some level,
•    Data governance enables MDM and enterprise data quality

In different ways, the message was repeated over and over again, three disciplines, one real solution. In other words, these domains and initiatives rely heavily on each other for them to be successful. Furthermore the solution for effective data management revolves around an organization’s ability to align people, process, and technology.

While some people may have heard this before and ask “but what’s new?,” from my perspective, it was a great step forward for the industry to really see how people are talking about the co-dependence of these disciplines. By setting aside a forum on these three topics alone, it reinforces and further acknowledges the fact that MDM-type initiatives, data quality, and governance are all required to drive desired outcomes around a company’s information and data assets.

You really need to be thinking about how all these disciplines interact and integrate as you move towards any MDM or CRM implementation.

Did you attend the TDWI event? If so, what were you’re thoughts? If not, what have you heard about the event?