The responsibilities of a data governance team aren’t simple; they are charged with making sure that the quality of corporate data is perfect. Data governance teams often make use of data stewards to accomplish this task. Data originates from many different sources; internal and external customers and third party vendors and suppliers. The sheer volume of data can quickly become overwhelming; this is where a data steward becomes necessary. Data stewards are those persons who, in addition to their other duties, assume data management duties.
In some cases, the people that make up the data stewardship group within a corporation are the data stakeholders themselves. These data stewards are charged with guaranteeing all data-related decisions are carried out in a manner that doesn’t differ with another person or entity within the corporation. The data steward should have excellent communication skills and be responsible for ensuring any uncertainties in the data are removed; these skills are in addition to exceptional technical skills.
The responsibilities of a data steward includes making sure the data doesn’t overlay any current or opposing data within the organization. Data stewards are always looking for possible errors in the data structure, and must assist in ensuring the data is free of errors. Data warehousing is one of the main roles of a data steward; as well as ensuring the consistency of the data.
Data stewards are usually one level below the data governance board in most typical organization, however, data stewards play an important role in decision making despite this position in the organization. In most large organizations a single data steward is not sufficient to carry out all the stewardship duties required; a data stewardship team is usually required. These teams are made up of experts in their respective fields and are responsible for an extremely important task.