Data Governance: An essential pillar for fully leveraging your data
- Stephane Wald
- Jan 9
- 5 min read
Did you enjoy my article on Data Management?
Discover now the one on Data Governance!
If you read my first article, you know that your data is a goldmine of information, and it's essential to structure and organize it to maximize operational efficiency. However, as necessary as that may be, it's far from sufficient.
Imagine a city with no traffic rules: cars drive everywhere, accidents multiply, and no one really knows where to go. Thinking about it, in some cities, we are not too far off. With bikes, cars, public transport and pedestrians, sometimes it's a pure chaos!
That's a bit like what happens in a company without data governance: everyone does what they can, information gets lost, and decisions are made with a blurred vision. In the restaurant industry, where margins are often tight and customer satisfaction is paramount, the lack of clear rules on data usage can quickly turn into a nightmare.
Data Governance is there to establish these "traffic rules" for data. It involves defining a framework to manage, secure and value data effectively. In this article, I will explore why and how to implement effective data governance, even for smaller structures, to make it a competitive lever.
Ready to take control ?
What is Data Governance ?
Data Governance, according to the DAMA-DMBOK (Data Management Body of Knowledge), refers to "the overall processes, rules, and responsibilities put in place to ensure that data within an organization is managed effectively, consistently, and securely." Far more than just technical data management, it ensures data quality, accessibility, and compliance with current regulations for optimal use within the organization.
In other words, it's the art of ensuring that the right people have access to the right data, at the right time, in a reliable and secure manner.
While Data Management focuses on the collection, organization, and storage of data, Data Governance is concerned with the rules of data use and the roles of various stakeholders within the organization.
Why is Data Governance crucial?
As mentioned in the introduction, without governance, companies, whether large or small, risk quickly sinking into organizational chaos. During my 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry, I have faced various challenges caused by the lack of governance, such as:
Different product codes for the same item across restaurants, complicating data reporting and generating inconsistencies;
Variations in the management of "combos" or menu items depending on the POS systems, sometimes with a unique code per menu, other times with a code for each component. In addition, there are different pricing approaches (a total price for the main product or a price per component). This lack of standardization makes comparative analysis challenging. When faced with different management methods within the same group (such as varying POS systems or versions), numerous manual adjustments are required to ensure accurate comparisons;
Differences in product hierarchies between countries within the same group, preventing a global overview
Different languages between departments creating misunderstanding, endless discussions and divergent interpretations of results;
Loss or inconsistency of data on certain days, leading to discrepancies and gaps in activity reports.
These few examples show how essential it is to structure data to optimize decision-making. According to an IBM study, poor data quality results in about $3.1 trillion in losses per year in the United States.
On the other hand, effective governance establishes a structure that reduces errors and optimizes decision-making.
Let's take the example of Michel and Augustin. By better structuring their sales and production data, they improved responsiveness, reduced stock-outs, and adjusted their offers based on customer feedback, thereby improving the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and enhancing customer satisfaction.
Similarly, Too Good To Go, the anti-food waste app, from its early days, implemented strict data governance to ensure data quality and security. This has allowed them to provide personalized recommendations, optimize their marketing campaigns, and support rapid growth while maintaining trust with users and partners.
For restaurant chains, whether start-ups or multinationals, well-thought-out data governance facilitates growth, prevents inconsistencies, and helps build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Key principles of Data Governance
Implementing effective data governance requires adopting some fundamental principles. Whether you are a small company or a large corporation, these principles can be tailored to your needs:
Define clear rules and standards: Consistency is crucial. Use common standards for all products and processes, ensuring all locations operate with the same codes and taxonomies. This will enable better performance analysis and restaurant comparisons. Similarly, at the global level, establish a common language and standardized taxonomy across departments to improve decision-making and foster cross-departmental collaboration.
Ensure data quality: As emphasized in the article on Data Management, quality takes precedence over quantity. Implement processes to verify data accuracy, up-to-date, and avoid duplication. This includes both product information and customer reviews. Large organizations can also benefit from investing in data quality solutions to ensure consistency across multiple regions and locations.
Access rights and security: Manage access securely, particularly in compliance with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Data must remain protected while being accessible to authorized individuals.
Roles and responsibilities: Clearly assign roles for various aspects of data governance. Define who is responsible for data quality, access management, and regulatory compliance.
A clear division of roles prevents confusion and ensures accountability.
Evolution and flexibility: The restaurant industry is constantly evolving, with frequent innovations in digitalization and delivery methods. Effective governance must be flexible enough to adapt while maintaining data consistency whether at a local level for small businesses or internationally for large chains.
Implementing effective governance: where to start?
Launching a data governance program may seem complex or even daunting, but with these three steps, both small and large organizations can build robust governance:
Assessment of the Current Situation: Before structuring governance, analyze the current processes. Where are the duplicates? Who is using the data, and for what purposes? For example, check if customer reviews are being collected consistently.
Defining Roles and Processes: After the assessment, define roles and responsibilities. Identify the data stewards (responsible for data quality and management) and the data owners. Then, formalize the processes for data management, sharing, and security.
Setting up control and monitoring tools: Use dashboards to track data quality and consistency in real-time. This could include customer satisfaction indicators, standardized sales reports, and regular audits to check alignment across locations.
Just like Data Management, implementing Data Governance is a real opportunity to improve decision-making quality and customer satisfaction. In the restaurant industry, as elsewhere, effective data governance is not about size or budget; it’s about vision and methodology. By adopting clear and tailored rules today, even small organizations can stand out and gain agility.
With well-thought-out data governance, you are not only laying solid foundations; You are building a sustainable competitive advantage.
Want to go further? Don't miss our upcoming articles on Data Analysis and Data Storytelling, to maximize the value of your information.
Need personalized support to structure your Data Governance?
Contact us to discuss your specific challenges and find tailored solutions together.
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