When your organization decides that time has to be invested in the improvement of data quality, make sure that you are able to define the key stakeholders and include them in the discussions. These people are going to make up your data quality and management team and are responsible for related activities company-wide. Be aware that business users are probably the most crucial stakeholders, since they really understand what is required to set up the best structure for both internal and external information management. In this article we explain the different roles within a data management team.
How should a data management team be composed?
The composition of thé ideal data management team doesn’t exist. All depends on your organizations specific needs. Some roles might be executed by the same person or within your organization you already have a similar role defined that works cross-divisions and therefore there is no need of having a similar role within the data team. Therefore be aware that the roles that we defined hereunder are not carved into stone. They are rather an example of how a data management could look like.
Data owner
Someone who clearly knows what the business is all about and understands quality of data sets is crucial to having a consistent information source for your customers across all channels.
Data architect
Person who overlooks with an helicopter view the data solution and how it relates into the overall IT-landscape. This person is involved in technical discussions and when it comes to integrating the different systems.
Data steward
A person that is involved in managing different data elements, they define the standards and guidelines that should be used by all personnel.
Data consumers
These are the people who are actually using the data, so they are really responsible for tracking the data issues and reporting them to the team. These people are able to define what the data is actually going to be used for, which makes them key to the process.
Data producer
This person is the one actually creating the data and works closely together with the data consumers to make sure that data is really living up to its purpose.
Data analyst
A data analyst is able to translate data into business insights, which allows the other team members to change the process into something more fit for the business. Key business decisions are based on their input.
Data custodian
This team member is responsible for the maintenance of data in different applications according to the requirements of the rest of the team.