A Conceptual Framework for Designing Data Governance for Cloud Computing

Data complexity and volume continue to explode; businesses have grown more sophisticated in their use of data which drives new demands that require different ways to combine, manipulate, store, and present information. Forward thinking companies have recognised that data management solutions on their own are becoming very expensive and not able to cope with business reality, and that they need to solve the data problem in a different way through the implementation of effective data governance. Attempts in governing data failed before, as they were driven by IT, and affected by rigid processes and fragmented activities carried out on system-by-system basis. Up to very recently governance is mostly informal, in siloes around specific enterprise repositories, lacking in structure and the in wider support by the organisation. With the emergence of cloud computing and the increased adoption, data governance is receiving an increasing interest amongst specialist, but still under researched. This paper presents initial research towards developing an effective data governance programmes for the cloud paradigm. The paper discusses why it is essential to do so from both the cloud consumer and provider perspectives and proposes a conceptual framework and a five-step procedure for designing data governance for cloud computing.