Over the last two decades, we’ve watched technology giants evolve their data governance strategies as digital technologies emerge and become entrenched in modern business. No household name has invested quite as much in doing so as Microsoft. The company recognizes that data is foundational to successful digital transformation and has developed practices and principles to help businesses of all sizes, across all industries, take advantage of their data while keeping it secure.
At Point Alliance, we’ve seen our customers achieve the greatest data governance and security success through Microsoft. Here are a few reasons why.
The Old Method Wasn’t Scalable
Microsoft has publicly recognized that their traditional approach to data governance would not suffice in the digital era. This “top-down” method was reactive—not proactive—and did not allow for the flexibility required for today’s modern adaptive data governance. This transparency engendered trust among experts and set the stage for Microsoft’s evolution of its data governance strategy.
The New Method Prioritizes Scalability
The company saw the writing on the wall: addressing data issues one at a time would not only become an organizational roadblock, but it would never provide effective data governance in the digital era. Today, data governance is a foundational pillar of Microsoft’s overall Enterprise Data Strategy which aims to “democratize data responsibly with scalable engineering solutions.” The approach considers how to manage the forever influx of data to leverage it for decision-making while securing it and supporting compliance needs.
They Govern with a Two-Pronged Approach
To automate and take a proactive approach to data governance, Microsoft first embeds clear data standards into its engineering process. It then uses an Enterprise Data Lake (ELD) platform for centralized, systemic data management. The result is a scalable solution that prevents data issues and maintains compliance.
Success Is Clearly Measurable
Microsoft has established metrics that serve to illustrate how successful data governance is and whether or not data is aligned with the right standards. Through a specific methodology, the company makes clear how it measures its compliance against those data standards.
The Enterprise Data Catalog Drives Data Governance
As we noted in this blog, taking stock of your data is an essential step in developing a strong data governance strategy. Microsoft’s Enterprise Data Catalog not only provides a full view of all data assets, it uses controls in its data discovery process to set permissions for the right people to access the right data. The catalog helps to manage fragmentation, sprawl, and duplication of data assets.
Microsoft Takes a “Governance by Design” Approach
The company has institutionalized a “governance by design” approach into its engineering infrastructure by applying data governance to the design phase of its overall strategy. With data governance taken into consideration from the very beginning, Microsoft is able to make data governance controls central to its analytics processes.
They Know People Are Also Important
It’s not just about the technology—Microsoft encourages an organization-wide embrace of data governance and uses tools such as communication campaigns and gamification to drive adoption. By monitoring usage on a daily and monthly basis, the company can continue to demonstrate how its approach proactively prevents root-cause data problems.
Modernize Data Governance with Microsoft
Moving away from traditional, reactionary data governance methods was a conscious decision for Microsoft. It’s approach today means businesses that opt for Microsoft technologies are participating in one of the most sophisticated data governance strategies out there. Point Alliance has seen Microsoft evolve its data governance work as the digital era demands, and our customers enjoy secure, healthy data practices as a result. Contact us today to discover how you can benefit, too.
