Introduction to Data Democratization – Data Democratization, Governance, and Security

Introduction to Data Democratization

Data democratization is defined as the willingness and ability to make information accessible to required business and technical users of information systems without having a gatekeeper or outside help to access the data. Democratizing data helps users gain unfettered access to important data without creating a bottleneck that impedes productivity.

Factors Driving Data Democratization

Several factors drive data democratization, including the following:

•    Business managers get frustrated with the lower-than-expected quality, mismatched requirements, and delayed timeliness of IT deliverables. This has led business to demand autonomy for their own initiatives.

•    The level of technical skill and competence found in business teams has increased.

•    The rise of as-a-service delivery, cloud infrastructure, and low-code/ no-code environments has made designing and delivering new services and solutions less expensive and easier for businesses. It is just a technical change to simplify development and integration.

•    The shift in trend from IT-led to business-led data leadership makes data a shared responsibility.

•    The shift in trend from working in silos to effective coordination between interrelated business and IT teams

•    The shift from top-down to co-created, adaptive governance to empower cross-departmental teams

•    The shift from monolithic to reusable technology to provide cross-­ departmental teams with reusable technology components to build digital capabilities quickly, securely, and efficiently

•    The need to provide cross-departmental teams with data, tools, and infrastructure to build digital capabilities

Responsibility for delivery has been shifting from the IT department to the business one, driven by the business area’s desire for more control and ownership. The business teams responsible for digital delivery often have little or no link to the IT department.

While this is a positive trend, there is a risk that organizations will become fragmented and highly inefficient. The correct method would be to formalize the right combination of business stewardship and IT stewardship to maintain efficiency and at the same time provide ownership to the business side. This way, IT would focus as an enabler of business.

Benefits of this strategy include the following:

•    Increase focus on the specific and important business goals and outcomes.

•    Have better understanding of customers and their needs.

•    Increase ability to change quickly and easily.

•    Increase innovation and collaboration across the organization.

•    Develop optimal solutions and remove duplicated efforts, resources,and solutions.

•    Integrate local “black box” solutions, best working practices, and best methods to integrate into an enterprise-wide architecture.