If your enterprise has locations in different countries around the globe, addressing the issue of ‘Globalization’ may decrease Information Technology costs and increase Operational Efficiency. Identifying areas of improvement by developing an understanding of how to leverage ‘Best Practices’ associated with Data Governance can potentially yield hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars of revenue by streamlining your environment.
GLOBALIZATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
If your corporation is considering ‘globalization’, you must understand and identify a specific Globalization Management Strategy. There are different considerations (e.g., regulations/laws, supply-chain issues, marketing strategies) associated with each Globalization Management Strategy. The available options are listed below:
- Multinational Corporations – Multinational Corporations create Products and Services for global consumption but do not have any sort of coordination or common brand for their Products and Services across geographical boundaries. Each set of Products and Services is offered within a specific Geographical Market. Multinational corporations do not have Subsidiaries (note: the Subsidiaries, which are ‘partially’ or ‘wholly owned’, are separate Legal Entities or Investments (e.g., Facilities, Banking and Security Accounts)) outside of the country in which the Corporate Headquarters is domiciled. Multinational Corporations may have ‘Branches’ in countries – these Branches are not separate Legal Entities from their Corporate Headquarters.
- Global Corporations – Global Corporations create Products and Services for global consumption based on a common brand which is specified by the Corporate Headquarters that is domiciled in a particular country. Global Corporations do not customize their Products and Services for a particular country. These corporations may have Subsidiaries or Investments located in different countries, but they all report to the Corporate Headquarters.
- International Corporations – International Corporations create Products and Services primarily for the country in which the Corporate Headquarters is domiciled. These companies subsequently extend their offerings of the Products and Services to other Geographical Markets based on similar customer demographics and purchasing habits. These corporations do not customize their products and services to accommodate specific geographical markets (i.e., ‘Local Geographical Market’) outside of the country in which the corporate headquarters is domiciled. These corporations are often referred to as ‘Exporters’/’Importers’. These corporations do not have Subsidiaries or Investments outside of the country in which the Corporate Headquarters is domiciled.
- Transnational Corporations – Transnational corporations provide a combination of the management styles offered by Multinational and Global Corporations. They often have common brands for their Products and Services, but the actual products and services are customized for each geographical market. Transnational corporations often own Subsidiaries/Branches and Investments in countries outside of which their Corporate Headquarters is domiciled.
THE ROLE OF DATA GOVERNANCE FOR GLOBALIZATION
Data Governance can play a prominent role in minimizing Data Management costs and facilitating Interoperability. The GITS Methodology uses detail procedures and Meta-Data in the following manner to support Globalization:
- Semantic Consistency/Silo-Effect Elimination: (please refer to the ‘Common Business Language Taxonomy’ item on the GITS Methodology page of this website for more information on Silo-Effect Elimination). Each Geographical Market may have the potential of having Silos which are the antithesis of Interoperability. GITS will provide you with resources and training/training materials to facilitate Semantic Consistency/Silo-Effect Elimination.
- Data Governance Administrative Topology: (e.g., Centralized, Distributed, Hub-and-Spoke): The different Globalization Management Strategies may require a specific Data Governance Administrative Topology at a particular point in time. It also may be desired to initially start with a specific Data Governance Administrative Topology and develop a roadmap or plan to ultimately migrate to a different type of Data Governance Administrative Topology. GITS can provide you with resources and training/training materials that can be used to select the Data Governance Administrative Topology that is the most advantageous to your enterprise. We can also provide you with a roadmap or plan that includes specific steps from moving from one Data Governance Administrative Topology to another.
- Security Entitlements: Each Geographical Market may have regulations/laws or cultural issues which may require different Security Entitlements for given Business Attributes. GITS can provide you with resources and training/training materials on how to facilitate a comprehensive Security Entitlement Strategy, worldwide.
- Data Quality Management: Each Business Attribute may not be viewed with the same level of importance across geographical markets. GITS can provide you with resources and training/training materials on how to implement a global Data Quality Management program which is consistent with the needs of your Geographical Markets and your overall Globalization Management Strategy.
- Business Intelligence/Data Analytics/Metrics: GITS can provide you with resources and training/training materials on developing a data-driven approach for managing Business Intelligence/Data Analytics/Metrics. The data-driven approach will minimize the necessity of redundant programming and allow you to be loosely-coupled with Software Applications that are used across Geographical Markets.
- Corporate Policy/Business Requirements Compliance: Each Geographical Market may have different ways of documenting Corporate Policies and Business Requirements that are contained in narrative documents. GITS can provide you with resources and training/training materials on how to improve on the quality of Corporate Policies and Business Requirements, and how to consistently document these policies/requirements across geographical boundaries, via a Meta-Data Repository.
THE ROLE OF DATA ARCHITECTURE FOR GLOBALIZATION
Data Architecture also plays a prominent role in minimizing Data Management costs and preparing your information for usage. GITS can provide resources and training/training materials that demonstrate how Data Architecture can acquire, manage, and store your information in a consistent fashion, globally. A listing of Data Management Framework Components offered by our Data Architecture team is listed below (please refer to the ‘Data Architecture’ item on the GITS Methodology page of this website for additional information):
- Data Mastering
- Big and Unstructured Data
- Structured Data
- Business Attribute-Driven Data Quality
- ODS/Business Intelligence Concepts/Data Analytics/Metrics/Data Warehousing
The above components are considered to be ‘Ala-Carte’ Data Architecture implementation methods – only use the components that are pertinent for your environment.