Data stewards play a vital role in managing and governing an organization’s data assets. To effectively carry out their responsibilities, they need access to the right tools and processes that ensure data is accurate, secure, and compliant. Empowering data stewards with advanced metadata management and governance capabilities is essential.
Here’s a closer look at what a data steward is and how the Actian Data Intelligence Platform provides a comprehensive solution, offering robust tools for data discovery, governance, and metadata management. The platform enables data stewards to streamline their workflows and maintain data integrity across the organization.
The Data Steward Role Defined
A data steward is responsible for managing and ensuring the quality, accuracy, and security of an organization’s data. Their duties include maintaining data integrity, creating data governance frameworks, and ensuring that data is accessible and compliant with relevant regulations.
Data stewards play a key role in managing metadata, establishing standards for data usage, and supporting data-driven decision-making processes. They also work closely with other stakeholders to ensure data is properly classified, stored, and protected throughout its lifecycle. Their efforts contribute to the overall success of an organization’s data management strategy.
Who are Data Stewards?
A data steward is not always a full-time, dedicated role but rather a set of responsibilities that are often shared across various positions in an organization. These roles integrate data stewardship tasks as part of broader job functions, ensuring that data is managed effectively and in compliance with governance policies.
Key roles involved in data stewardship include:
- Business analysts, who interpret data, ensuring its quality and relevance for actionable insights.
- Data engineers, who build and maintain data infrastructure, ensuring data is accessible and well-managed.
- IT managers, who oversee technology systems and implement data governance policies and security measures.
- Department heads, who ensure data in their departments meets quality standards and regulatory compliance.
- Compliance officers, who monitor data handling practices to ensure adherence to legal requirements.
By incorporating data stewardship into these roles, organizations can foster a culture of responsible data management and governance across all levels.
What Does a Data Steward Do?
A data steward plays a crucial role in ensuring proper management and governance of an organization’s data. They are responsible for maintaining data quality, accuracy, and consistency, as well as for enforcing data governance policies. Their tasks include:
- Data quality management: Data stewards ensure that data is accurate, complete, and up to date, with minimal errors.
- Data access and security: These individuals are in charge of overseeing who has access to data and ensuring it’s protected according to security protocols.
- Compliance: Data stewards ensure data handling practices align with regulatory requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA.
- Collaboration: A data steward works closely with various departments to promote data best practices and ensure data integrity across the organization.
- Metadata management: These professionals organize and maintain metadata to make data assets easier to search, retrieve, and manage.
Data stewards are essential for creating a data-driven culture, ensuring data is reliable, secure, and accessible for decision-making.
What Tools do Data Stewards Use?
For data stewards to effectively manage and govern an organization’s data, they need the right tools and processes that facilitate data management, enhance accuracy, and streamline governance. These tools help ensure that data is classified, secured, and compliant with regulations.
These key tools and processes are essential for data stewardship:
- Centralized data platforms: These platforms simplify managing and tracking data assets.
- Metadata management tools: Data stewards use these tools to ensure data is tagged and organized for easy access and usage.
- Data security and compliance tools: These tools protect sensitive data and ensure it meets regulatory requirements.
- Automated data classification: A data steward can use automated data classification to streamline the process of categorizing data to enable efficient management.
- Governance workflows: These workflows establish clear processes for handling data and enforcing policies.
By using these tools and processes, data stewards can effectively govern data and its usage within an organization.
How Data Stewards can Utilize a Data Intelligence Platform
Data stewards can leverage the Actian Data Intelligence Platform to streamline data governance and management tasks, ensuring accurate and compliant data stewardship. The platform’s features empower data stewards with the necessary tools to efficiently handle and secure data across various environments.
The platform offers:
1. Automated Data Classification
The platform automates the process of tagging and classifying data, ensuring sensitive data is identified and properly managed. Automated classification improves data security, reduces manual errors, and ensures compliance with privacy regulations.
2. Centralized Data Management
Data stewards can maintain a single source of truth for all data assets, making it easier to manage and oversee data governance activities. The centralized platform improves collaboration between departments and enhances data accessibility across teams.
3. Metadata Management
Data stewards can manage metadata effectively, ensuring data is organized and accessible. The platform’s metadata-driven governance provides a comprehensive overview of data lineage, enhancing transparency and trust in data.
4. Compliance and Security
The platform helps data stewards track compliance by providing tools to monitor data handling and enforce security protocols. Data lineage tracking ensures that data stewardship efforts align with regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance.
5. Intuitive Data Discovery
Through easy-to-use search and data discovery features, data stewards can quickly locate and retrieve relevant data, supporting faster and informed decision-making. The platform’s knowledge graph technology identifies data relationships and simplifies data exploration.
Data Stewards can Rely on Actian
By leveraging the data intelligence platform’s capabilities, data stewards can uphold data governance, ensure data quality, and support the overall data strategy within the organization.
For more information, request a personalized demo today.
