10 Cloud Data Governance Trends to Watch this Year

Zaloni partnered with DATAVERSITY in the Spring of 2021 to gain insights about cloud data governance by asking a wide range of data professionals (397 in total) about their experiences with data governance in general, and cloud governance specifically.

The foundation of this report is an online survey, with 21 questions, that was conducted in the spring of 2021. Researchers recruited participants through an email marketing campaign.

Read this state of cloud data governance research highlights to learn:

Why organizations are investing in data governance tools and technology
How to measure the ROI of a data governance initiative
What challenges organizations are overcoming through data governance

Those who went through the survey did not have a time limit nor did they receive any compensation, lending to objective results. Any results and analysis in the paper come only from respondents of this survey and our experts.

A wide variety of people responded to the survey, making up a solid representation across a range of different factors. Those who completed the questionnaire came from over 35 countries worldwide and spanned diverse job functions and industries.

Respondents came from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. About half of the participants worked in information or data governance, while some of the top industries included consulting (13%), government (13%), technology (10%), finance (8%), and education (8%). Other industries also included oil and gas, accounting, manufacturing, retail, and many more.

Although many respondents came from very large organizations with over 10,000 people (28%), or mid-sized companies, employing between 1,000 and 4,999 workers (22%), those surveyed represented all possible sizes.

Trend 1: Perceiving the acceleration of analytics as the catalyst for data governance initiatives.

What is your perception of Data Governance?

Trend 2: Investing in new data governance tools and technologies

How much does your organization plan to spend on Data Governance technology/tools in 2021/22?

Trend 3: Using data quality as the primary driver for investing in data governance technology

What’s driving your organization’s investment in Data Governance technology/tools? [Please select all that apply]

Trend 4: Investing in employees dedicated to data governance initiatives

Who is responsible for executing and managing Data Governance within your organization (day-to-day implementation)? [Please select all that apply]

Trend 5: Using a hybrid model for data governance – a mix of centralized and decentralized execution

How is Data Governance executed within your organization?

Trend 6: Focusing on solving the organizational challenges of overcoming data silos and the lack of understanding of data governance

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to Data Governance? [Please select all that apply]

Trend 7: Seeking superior data quality and cataloging capabilities in a data governance tool

Which Data Governance capabilities are most important to you? [Please select all that apply]

Trend 8: Seeking capabilities related to data security, data privacy and ensuring regulatory compliance in a tool for governing SaaS data sources

What is most important when governing SaaS data sources?

Trend 9: Addressing a skills gap in cloud technology by seeking more user-friendly tools for non-technical employees

What are your biggest challenges with Data Governance in the cloud? [Please select all that apply]

Trend 10: Proving the value of data governance initiatives by measuring improved data quality and a reduced time to analytic insights