You're leading data governance efforts for agile projects. How do you assess their impact on success?

As far as data quality is concerned, consider the following ... Clear metrics: Define specific, measurable standards for data accuracy, completeness and consistency. Use these benchmarks to regularly assess data quality and identify areas for improvement. Audits: Conduct routine data quality reviews to identify and correct problems early. This helps maintain high standards and reduces the risk of errors affecting project outcomes. Impact: Evaluate how improved data quality increases decision making, project efficiency and overall business value. Highlight the direct link between high-quality data and successful project delivery.

What I did was to understand the context of the data and we built a machine learning model to track error rates, completeness & access times in sprints to ensure trusted data fuels agile decisions. Less rework and faster delivery are the data quality impacts.

Building a product considering agile data governance, I prioritize compliance as a cornerstone for success. I measure it by Regular audits to track if data handling aligns with industry standards and privacy laws, minimizing legal risks. I also ensure features to monitor access granted to sensitive data, ensuring only authorized users can modify or view it, as well as features to track response times and resolution rates for data breaches or security incidents, demonstrating proactive risk management. By focusing on these metrics, I ensure agile projects operate within compliance frameworks while still delivering innovative solutions.

After over a decade leading DG efforts, my conclusion is that Agile has No bearing to the success of a Data Governance effort. Unfortunately, far too many agile led Data Governance efforts fail, they add unnecessary overhead that increases the Governance effort by 5x10 times in cost, resources and time in my opinion. My recommendation: Build your organization on a foundation of Business Data Governance (NOT IT led) aligned to Business Data Strategy. Everything else IT works on should follow it. Not the other way around. Don't have a Business Data Strategy? Get in touch with me for some assistance.

Regardless of whether data governance is used in agile projects or not, evaluating its impact is critical to success. Also consider ... Efficiency gains: Evaluate how data governance efforts streamline processes and reduce time spent on data-related tasks. Identify areas where efficiency can be further improved. Stakeholder feedback: Gather and analyze stakeholder feedback to understand their perceptions of data governance initiatives. Assess the level of satisfaction and identify problem areas. Cost savings: Identify the financial benefits of implementing data governance, such as reduced risk, improved decision making and operational efficiency. Quantify these savings to demonstrate the value.