The ROI of Data Governance: Making the Business Case to Leadership

Convincing leadership to invest in data governance can be challenging, especially when its benefits seem intangible compared to revenue-generating initiatives. However, the return on investment (ROI) of data governance is significant and measurable—both in cost savings and strategic advantages. And whilst people are getting “data breach fatigue”, it’s always timely to ensure that you are not part of THAT list!

Cost Savings Through Efficiency

Data governance reduces inefficiencies, such as duplicated efforts, data errors, and compliance-related fines. For instance, a well-structured data inventory streamlines processes like data access and analysis, saving countless hours and operational costs. When you look at the overall process across an organisation, there are certain key tasks that are shared across all domains (different areas of business) and by providing standards on the levels of quality that you expect everyone to adhere to, you start creating an improved data quality to help drive the revenue generating decisions. As one of my managers used to sell the concept to people –

Just because a lake is dirty, doesn’t mean you need to pump dirty water into it!

Utilising known master sources of data, such as the Global National Address File (GNAF) for addresses (in Australia), saves validating the dataset in the future. Plus, it also prevents people from adding erroneous entries, and should you need to (in cases where you need to work with developing countries), those “other” fields can be highlighted and a focus of targeted cleaning.

Risk Mitigation and Compliance

Organisations face severe penalties for non-compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR or HIPAA. A governance program ensures adherence to these laws, minimising the risk of fines or reputational damage. Moreover, it safeguards against data breaches, which can result in millions of dollars in losses.

I have also noticed another growing trend in the industry. One where people deem it’s ok for a data breach to occur. Sure, you need a risk-based approach to breaches, but this shouldn’t be your mindset. As Robert Seiner states in his book “Non-Invasive Data Governance: The Path To Least Resistance and Greatest Success” (phenomenal read) – Data Governance is about managing people’s behaviour towards data. And once I took this message to be a core tenet of my approach, my attitude towards data breaches within the organisations where I have launched Data Governance Frameworks. My quote comes from this line of thinking and has helped change people’s mindset:

1. Each line of data that is breached represents a person.
2. That person could be someone you know.
3. What if that person is someone you care about? Would you be ok that this piece of information is out there? Even if it’s anonymised, it doesn’t take much to re-identify a person with the existing breaches out there. (Click here to be astounded!)
4. What if that one line, represented you?
5. So why isn’t more scrutiny (within reason) being applied to this data asset?

I know saying “within reason” gives people an escape clause, yet it is enough for people to pause and reflect on what it is they’re doing with the data.

Better Decision-Making

High-quality, well-managed data leads to better business decisions. Governance ensures that decision-makers have access to accurate, timely, and relevant data, enabling them to respond to market trends and customer needs more effectively. With this approach, the entire organisation as whole asks those fundamental questions when it comes time to collecting data – how do we ensure it is of high quality? The adage, “measure twice, cut once” really comes to life with a good Data Governance approach.

Scalability for the Future

As organisations grow, unmanaged data becomes a liability. Governance frameworks scale with the organisation, preventing costly retroactive fixes and ensuring that data remains an asset rather than a burden. By building on the quick wins, the Governance Framework scales where it is needed most and adapts accordingly. This way, you create an internal set of excited evangelists that speak highly of the need for better Data Governance without it all falling onto you (thus creating an unnecessary bottleneck).

Making the Business Case

To gain leadership buy-in, frame data governance as a strategic enabler, not just an IT initiative. Use real-world examples, such as improved compliance, cost savings, or revenue growth, to demonstrate its value. Present a phased implementation plan with clear milestones to show ROI over time.

As a rough guideline, a good Data Governance Program takes 3 years to set up. Depending on how far along the data governance journey, the organisation is already on, you can expect to stand up 3 procedures (“the what”) a year and 3 guidelines (“the how”) per year. Any more than that is producing stellar efforts! Please email me and let me know how you did it, because I am keen to improve my skillset!

In Closing

Data governance is not just a cost—it’s an investment that drives efficiency, compliance, and strategic advantage. By communicating its ROI effectively, you can secure the resources needed to implement and sustain governance in your organisation.

For more details on the blueprint behind implementing a good data governance program – click here!

If you’d like assistance or advice with your Data Governance implementation, please feel free to drop me an email here and I will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible!