I wish a fat ton of organizations knew more about data governance and its role in data quality. Still, it’s hard to think of too many organizations that could make or break the economy just by failing at data governance.
If I had to name those companies, though, I think Standard & Poor’s (S&P) financial services company would rank pretty darn high on the list. I would absolutely like to know that the S&P has mastered data governance.
If you’re curious, too, then we’re both in luck. Kevin Shannon, the VP and global head of Data Stewardship for S&P’s rating agency, will share the S&P’s data governance story tomorrow during a free webinar sponsored by OG|PO Data Governance consultancy. The webinar will be held at 2 p.m. central, 11 a.m. pacific.
Shannon will explain how data governance is structured at S&P and how they’ve made it work within the organization. Usually, data governance is discussed as a stand-alone topic, as if it exists in an organizational vacuum, so it’s worth pointing out that Shannon will also discuss how the data governance program works within S&P’s agile environment.
He’s also going to explain S&P’s take on best practices for implementing data governance, metrics the company has used for monitoring it, how software fits into governance and, of course, the lessons he’s learned along the way.
As webinars go, this seems like it’d be worth clearing the hour on your calendar. You can find the registration link by going to OG|PO’s home page and scrolling to the bottom, where events are listed.
Actually, I found out about this event via Dataversity’s list of upcoming webinars. It turns out, this is just one of several upcoming data quality and governance webinars highlighted by the site. Oddly, all of the post dates go back to the beginning of the year, but all five webinar events take place this month.
You’ll note there are two more webinars focused on data governance. If this is an area of concern for your organization, definitely check out the September 9th event, which will cover foundational issues such as understanding data governance concepts, steps for improving data governance within the organization and guiding principles for success.
I also found a free webinar on data quality that’s especially for chief data officers. Dataversity Founder and CEO Tony Shaw will moderate. The guest speaker will be Danette McGilvray, president and principal of Granite Falls Consulting, Inc., who will discuss options for structuring your data quality initiative within your organization. Although the event is targeted to CDOs, the agenda also covers items that would be useful for any organization starting a data quality or governance initiative.
If you’re interested in finding more free webinar opportunities, check my Friday blog posts, when I often share events for the upcoming week.
Loraine Lawson is a veteran technology reporter and blogger. She currently writes the Integration blog for IT Business Edge, which covers all aspects of integration technology, including data governance and best practices. She has also covered IT/Business Alignment and IT Security for IT Business Edge. Before becoming a freelance writer, Lawson worked at TechRepublic as a site editor and writer, covering mobile, IT management, IT security and other technology trends. Previously, she was a webmaster at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and a newspaper journalist. Follow Lawson at Google+ and on Twitter.