Data Governance:
In Practice and over Time
Presented by: Elizabeth Davis
October 15, 2008
Information Resource Management Association of Canada
Today’s Agenda
 IFC
at-a-glance: the data environment
 Creating
a Data Governance function:
Advantageous Pre-Conditions
 Data
Governance in Practice
 A Measure
 And
of Success
Now? Two Years Later at IFC
 Lasting Legacies
Page 2
Today’s Agenda
IFC at-a-glance:
the Data
Environment
Page 3
IFC at-a-glance: our data
management landscape

Over 3,300 staff, made up of more than 120 nationalities,
with 53% based in developing and frontier regions.

IFC is the largest provider of multilateral financing for the
private sector in the developing world.
 In FY08, new investments totaled $16 billion, including $11 billion for in
new commitments for our own account and $5 billion in funding that we
mobilized for clients. Altogether we supported 372 projects in 85
countries.
 We also approved 299 new advisory services projects in 75 countries with
total expenditures of $269 million ($123 million from IFC’s account and
$146 million from donors).

Financial products to client companies include: long term
loans, debt securities, equity investments, quasi-equity
investments, guarantees and stand-by financing, risk
management tools, and structured finance products.
Page 4
IQ Group Origins: Advantageous
Pre-Conditions FY2001

External and Internal Audits identified “dirty data”
as a source of financial, operational and reputational
risks

Senior Management/EVP endorsement of a “Task
Force” to respond to audits – origin of IQ Group,
initially staffed by external consultants to IFC

Appointment of seasoned, respected Manager to
lead Task Force, with 25 years of WB/IFC experience

Coincides with large corporate investment in IT
integration, data warehouse, unified reporting tools,
and retirement of legacy systems
Page 5
Top Down Endorsement

“A major issue facing the Corporation is the quality of
data. Without accurate data, none of us – staff
assistants, investment officers, financial officers, or
senior management – can make educated decisions or
manage risks. Not having accurate and timely data puts
all of us at great risk from both an operational and a
reputational perspective. Some groups within IFC have
tried to address this problem already and have created
pockets of clean data; however, this is not enough. We
must have clean data throughout the Corporation.”
EVP, Jan 2001, introducing the Task Force initiative to all staff
Page 6
Principles and
Mandate
Principles:



Scrub the data only if you can keep it clean going forward
Accountability must be enforced at the source to “get it right
the first time”
Re-use data across systems to eliminate data redundancy
and human error as much as possible
Mandate:



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Define and govern the data management and quality
policies, procedures and guidelines.
Facilitate a standard set of corporate-wide data conventions
(e.g., business rules, data definitions), separate from the
functions of data modeling and IT development.
Resolve data issues between systems and units.
Results = Permanent
IQ Group Function
Quantifiable Results, in less than 2 years,
$500k expense =
 $2 million in corrected fee income
 $15 million in reimbursable expenses
Intangible Results:
 Reputation as an “honest broker”
 Delivered value to business and IT
 Business consensus was documented into
policies endorsed by Management
Page 8
IFC’s Organizational
Chart Today
Page 9
Today’s Agenda
Data Governance
in Practice
Page 10
Organizational
Data Governance
Data Governance
IT Project Development
Recourse via IT Governance
Body or VP Risk
Management
IT GOVERNANCE BODY:
Business membership approves all
IT capital budget and spending
IQ GROUP:
Liaison between data
creators, consumers, IT, and
data stewards to ensure data
management standards are
applied to IT development
and reporting, and optimized
over time to meet changing
business needs
BUSINESS SPONSOR: Manager /
Director champions the business
need for a new enabling tool
IT CLIENT OFFICER: Project
planning, business requirement
gathering, and coordination of all
technical requirements, including
data modeling, business modeling,
application of data standards and
data management principles
TIP: Don’t depend on
process – political
strength requires strong
relationships.
Sources of Corp Standards: Data Creators and Consumers
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TIP: Cultivate
relationships with Data
Consumers who rely on
data accuracy and
consistency.
Building Relationships and
Consensus
Respect others’ time –
begin and end on time
Never underestimate the power
of food – feed your audience for
better attendance!
Facilitate, don’t dictate
Strive for understanding first, then
consensus
Do your research – have the right
parties at the table
Always distribute meeting notes
and have all parties approve them
as a final record of the discussion
Page 12
Sell the tangible business
benefits of corporate standards
Follow-through
consistently – be
dependable, responsive,
and trust-worthy
Consensus =
Standards
Page 13
Defining IFC’s
Investment Product Lines

“Points of Pain”: Three
different sets of
classification values, at
least three systems for
tracking and analysis, no
definitions

Solution: One set of classification values named and
defined, shared across integrated system architecture for
both consistent data capture, documentation, and
corporate reporting.
Page 14
Promoting a Culture of
Accountability

Data Steward Network: One or two appointed staff
in each department – HQ and field (approx. 70 staff).

Data Steward Mission: To collectively and
individually promote a corporate culture where
information is treated as a strategic asset to support
IFC’s mission.
 Primary departmental contact to resolve data issues or
elevate issues to IQ Group
 Promote best practices in their department
 Participate in IQ Group working groups and provide
feedback to improve processes, systems or standards

Qtr’ly Meetings, Training, “Information Day”
Page 15
Promoting a Culture of
Accountability
Data Governance Principles
Governance Methods
Working Groups of
Experts
Data Definitions
Working Group
Corporate Standards and Rules
Data
Stewards
Dictionary
Products
Product
Classification
Clearinghouse
Info Delivery
Working Group
Documented
Consensus/
Ownership
Daily Exception
Alerts & Clean-up
Page 16
IQ Group
Promotion &
Branding
Corp Reference Tables and Business
Rules
Today’s Agenda
A Measure of
Success
Page 17
High Marks for IFC’s Program
Data Mgmt Audit 2006
Rating for IFC Data Stewardship
Page 18
“Data Stewardship”
as defined by

Ensuring that specific individuals are assigned the
responsibility for the maintenance of specific data
as organizational assets, and that those individuals
are provided the requisite knowledge, skills, and
abilities to accomplish these goals in conjunction
with other data stewards in the organization.
Stewardship is most effective if it is managed at
the organizational level.
 The on-going improvement in data management
practices should be an integral part of the
organization’s charter.

Page 19
Definition of the Data Stewardship measures:
(as defined by
)
IFC Scores: (May 2006)

Leadership & Guidance = 4 = managed

Asset Creation = 4 = managed

Metadata Management = 4 = managed

Quality Assurance = 4 = managed (the use of documented guidance is
mandatory and management attempts to ensure that it is applied consistently)

Change Management = 3 = defined (guidance is documented and available)

Data Quality = 2 = repeatable (local guidance & expertise exists)
Page 20
Overall Data Management Scores
(May 2006)
Page 21
Today’s Agenda
And Now? Two
Years Later at
IFC
Page 22
That was then,
what’s up now?
 People Move, Focus Changes:
 Enterprise-wide approach to data governance is
being challenged
 IT struggles to find a partner to enforce data quality
principles with the business

“Integrated Risk Management” is emerging
as a new driver for information quality and
consistency:
 A new round of integration requirements will be
driven by top-down demand for “actionable”
strategic reporting
Page 23
That was then,
what’s up now?
 Integration is NOT the light at the end of
the tunnel!
 Impact analysis is costly and time consuming –
business doesn’t like to wait!
 Successful data re-use is extremely complex –
who can successfully sell this complexity to the
business?
 Data governance mandate and enforcement
authority must be very strong to maintain
discipline over time
 IT institutional knowledge weakened by
outsourcing and off-shoring
Page 24
That was then,
what’s up now?
 IT Governance Structure in flux (see Annex B)
 Business sponsorship and parochial interests made it
difficult to prioritize capital projects
 New IT Project Approval thresholds challenged
authority and relevance of IT Governance body
 IT Governance body approves up to $500k; VP to $1 mil; Mgmt Group
over $1 mil
 Reduced detailed oversight weakened incentive for IT to enforce
corporate data standards in design and business documentation
 New IT Strategy Council (4 VPs) and IT Steering
Committee (Directors) being put in place this month
Page 25
Today’s Agenda
Lasting Legacies
Page 26
Lasting Legacies



Business knows that corporate definitions and
standards are essential for reliable and usable
corporate information. But,who will make it
happen?
The principle of data re-use is largely accepted
across the enterprise. But,who will sell it and
enforce it to IT and the business?
Pockets of data governance indicate recognized
value of standards and active quality oversight.
But, who develops and ensures enterprise-wide
buy-in, consistency and implementation?
Page 27
Lasting Legacies
Fundamental Data Governance Principles
Remain Valid:
Be Relevant
Deliver Value
Be Visible

But, all of these are harder to achieve without
an enterprise-wide, mandated data governance
function with “teeth” and persuasiveness.
Page 28
Annex A: IFC Information
Management Policy

Page 29
Provided as a separate
document/handout
Annex B:
IT Governance

IT Strategy Council: is a sub-committee of the
Management Group with the mandate to
formulate and approve IT strategy and priorities
within the context of IFC’s strategic business
objectives and resource constraints following the
IT Guiding Principles (see Annex C).

IT Steering Committee: is a council of directors,
reporting to the IT Strategy Council, with the
mandate to plan and implement the IT
components of IFC’s business process
improvements per the approved IT strategy and
investment plan.
Page 30
Annex C:
IT Guiding Principles






Page 31
Corporate Priorities drive IT Investment
IT is Integral to the Business
IFC’s Clients are the Primary Focus
Risk & Uncertainty are Proactively Controlled
Information is a Corporate Asset: Technology
is managed to protect the Corporation’s
information and enable a single point of data
entry; however, data quality is the responsibility
of the user community at the source.
IT is Managed as an Investment