Successful Dictionaries And Glossaries Are Driven By Data Governance And Data Stewardship
Running meetings that produce tedious and unnecessary business glossaries or data dictionaries, which eventually gather cyber dust, would be any data manager’s nightmare. Building and maintaining a good business glossary or data dictionary, on the other hand, risks muddled meanings, muddled communications, and company failures. What should a business do? (data science course Malaysia)
Robert S. Seiner (Bob), President and Principal of KIK Consulting & Educational Services and editor of The Data Administration Newsletter (TDAN), presented about business glossaries and data dictionaries at the DATAVERSITY® Enterprise Data Governance Online Conference (EDGO). Formal Data Governance, according to Seiner, “four secrets” require to create a successful and long-lasting corporate lexicon and data dictionary.
Data Governance and Data Stewardship are the first steps.(data science course Malaysia)
Bob Seiner believes that appropriate definitions of Data Governance and Data Stewardship should be the first step in establishing a robust data dictionary or business glossary. “The implementation and enforcement of authority over the administration of data and data-related resources” is what Data Governance is all about. When Seiner mentioned data-related resources, he was referring to the metadata included in the business lexicon, data dictionary, and/or the DBM’s catalogue. Data Stewardship, according to Seiner, is “the formalisation of accountability over the management of data and data-related resources.” Because “people have a relationship to the data, just as they have a relationship to the metadata,” Data Stewardship embraces everyone. As a result, these individuals’ accountability must be codified in order to gather and preserve the finest available metadata.
There are various types of formal accountability, but Seiner likes the Non-Invasive ApproachTM. This entails “adding governance to current processes rather than completely reinventing them.” “Organizations seek to execute and enforce authority,” he said, regardless of Data Governance approach. It all boils down to how firms implement Data Governance and use Data Stewards to achieve it.”
Glossaries are owned by businesses, whereas data dictionaries are owned by IT. (data science course Malaysia)
Managers must comprehend the major differences between a business lexicon and a data dictionary, as noted by Seiner, in addition to Data Governance and Data Stewardship. He cited Nicola Askham, who said:
“The business glossaries are created, maintained, and owned by the business.” Data dictionaries are the responsibility of Information Technology (IT) or the persons who own the systems. So, the distinction between the two is who’s in charge of it, who’s in charge of maintaining it, and who’s in charge of being the Stewards of that metadata.”
He continued by mentioning Lowell Fryman:
“The primary goal of the business glossary is to remove semantic ambiguity throughout the organisation.” This means that each business term in the glossary must have its own name, definition, value set, and set of business regulations, as well as an authorised source. This necessitates the establishment of business language. Multiple usages may exist, although they frequently do not clash with the one term in the business vocabulary.”
Data Dictionary
A data dictionary, on the other hand, is produced for a specific purpose (e.g. to document a specific set of data within an application, Data Warehouse or Data Lake). “Data dictionaries link these notions precisely to the metadata about the data or the content in the catalogue,” said Seiner, whereas business terminology was targeted. It’s possible that business glossary terminology will be collected or linked to data dictionary information, and “a data dictionary often has a business definition in it.” However, it is IT’s obligation to place it there.”
Seiner came to the conclusion (the second of Bob’s secrets) that we must involve business in the production of glossaries and dictionaries. Seiner proceeded on to his four recommendations, which he based on his knowledge of dictionaries vs glossaries.
Data Dictionaries: Four Secrets of Successful Business Glossaries
1. Organize the Contents in a Formal Way
“Have a plan to demonstrate and includes specific specifics, such as who will collect the data, use what process, and the level of commitment within the business.” Assess and formally governed how well the content was,” Seiner stated.
Because there is so much data, it would be “unthinkable” to capture metadata for every single data element in the organisation, Seiner’s corollary is to choose data that is most meaningful to the company. He elaborated:
“These are unique Data Assets.” Often, the process of collecting and determining which business directed CDE to employ. CDE could come from a variety of data dictionaries and sources, including data from the company’s dashboards.”
Knowing data that offers “particular value to the organisation through” is important, according to Seiner.
gathering and physically storing information regarding business terms” It is not always easy to identify CDE and adhere to a formal governance framework. He advises firms to “tell when there aren’t enough resources, when the process isn’t working, and what the required time frame is to document all of this information,” and then fix these issues to get Data Governance planning back on track.
2. Involve the company in the tool’s definition, production, and use.
A successful data glossary or data dictionary, according to Seiner, necessitates “involve the right people at the right time, in the right way, using the right data to make the right decisions,” or the “Data Governance Bill of Rights.” “Enlisting the proper people as Data Stewards in the organisation,” he says, is critical.
The person in charge of developing the glossary or dictionary determined the suitable personnel. We must identify the final sponsor and this will have a significant impact on the company’ position. This individual could be a member of the IT department, the Chief Data Officer, or someone from the business itself. “The business can grasp the role they will play gathering information for their dictionaries and/or glossaries,” says the author.
“This well-thought-out approach concerning the roles needs to get approval from a strategic level of Data Governance,” Seiner continued. Details regarding how to collect material for the dictionary and/or glossary, as well as tools like flow charts and RACI (Responsibility Assignment Matrix) charts, can help with buy-in. Obtaining approval for the function of business is critical.
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