5 mistakes to avoid when adopting a financial data governance strategy

Adopting a data-driven strategy – the so-called Data Governance – is absolutely indispensable in the modern finance sector, characterized by very fast changes and constantly evolving market needs. Banks, insurance companies and individuals have taken up with great commitment the challenge launched by the competition of online platforms, opening the doors to a new world for the financial market.

Behind every novelty, however, there is always a large margin of error, and having secure and reliable data available also involves a good deal of risk. Here because Iconsultingthe main Italian consulting firm, gave us a vadevecum sui five most common mistakesto be avoided absolutely.

“The implementation of methods and processes that allow correct data management offers companies a concrete competitive advantage,” he says Giulio Aragiusto, Advisory Practice Manager di Iconsulting.

Data Governance: 5 mistakes to avoid according to Iconsulting

1. Delimitare la Data Governance all’IT: confining data governance solely to the IT function would mean focusing the entire process almost exclusively on software solutions, neglecting the management of the entire organizational, cultural and change approach part.

2. Data Governance “a project”: the goal is to be able to improve the company’s business results by recognizing data as a decisive asset and an enabler that can facilitate daily operations. This strategy should therefore not be understood as a “project”, but a cultural revolution to be progressively triggered in all the processes of the various business units.

3. Designing a framework that is too conceptual: Conceiving a purely theoretical framework can cause too large a gap between the theoretical manifesto – methodologies, policies and rules – and concrete implementation. To avoid the inevitable return to the old schemes, it is therefore essential that it progresses at the same speed as its implementation and immediately becomes an integral part of the system in day-by-day operations.

4. Implementing a global change: once the framework has been defined and the right commitment from the management has been obtained, one can fall into the temptation to undertake a single large initiative to achieve relevant results in the shortest possible time. By acting in this way, however, the risk of failure is high. The advice is therefore, especially at an early stage, to initiate simpler actions that show concrete benefits in the short term.

5. Adopt Data Governance only in relation to regulatory compliance: preparing a corporate Data Governance program aimed only at complying with regulations issued by a regulatory body, means giving up new opportunities and minimizing the benefits provided by data management. On the contrary, exploiting the data extensively and consciously allows you to extend the horizon of your possibilities, going beyond the benefits dictated by mere regulatory compliance.