Data Governance Assessment
Data Governance Assessment
Know where your data governance efforts stand—and what to fix first.
If your teams disagree about what a metric means, nobody knows who owns a critical dataset, or data quality problems keep resurfacing, buying another tool probably isn’t the first step.
Empty Cup Consulting helps IT and data leaders evaluate their current data governance practices and turn the findings into a realistic plan. Our 2–4-week assessment is designed to answer the questions that matter before you commit to a larger program.
Is This Assessment Right for You?
This engagement may be a fit if:
- Business and technical teams use different definitions for the same information.
- Ownership and accountability for important data are unclear.
- Data quality issues are discovered late, after they affect reporting or operations.
- Your organization has governance policies on paper but struggles to apply them.
- You are considering a data catalog, Microsoft Purview, or another governance platform and want to understand the work that should come first.
- You need a practical starting point rather than a company-wide governance initiative.
You do not need a fully staffed governance office to begin.
What We Evaluate
We tailor the scope to your priorities, data landscape, and available stakeholders. Typical areas include:
| Area | Questions we explore |
|---|---|
| Data ownership and stewardship | Who makes decisions about critical data, and who resolves issues? |
| Business definitions and metadata | Can teams find and agree on the meaning of important data? |
| Data quality | How are problems identified, measured, assigned, and resolved? |
| Policies and operating practices | Which controls exist, and are they practical to follow? |
| Platform and tooling | Do current capabilities support governance, or add unnecessary complexity? |
| Priorities and adoption | Which improvements will produce useful results first? |
This is an assessment of your governance practices and operating model, not a promise to catalog every data asset or implement an enterprise platform in a few weeks.
How the Engagement Works
1. Align on outcomes and scope
We start with a working session to identify the decisions you need to make, the most important data domains, and the people who should participate.
2. Review the current state
We examine selected documentation, processes, tools, and representative data issues. Interviews or working sessions with business and technical stakeholders help distinguish documented processes from how work actually gets done.
3. Identify gaps and opportunities
We evaluate the findings against your goals, separating immediate improvements from changes that require more time, ownership, or investment.
4. Deliver a practical roadmap
We review recommendations together, discuss tradeoffs, and identify realistic next steps your team can own.
What You Can Expect to Receive
Depending on the agreed scope, deliverables typically include:
- Current-state findings summarizing strengths, gaps, and material risks.
- Prioritized recommendations organized by business value, effort, and dependencies.
- Ownership and operating-model suggestions for selected data domains or processes.
- A phased action plan with near-term opportunities and longer-term considerations.
- A findings walkthrough so stakeholders can ask questions and agree on next steps.
Exact activities and deliverables are confirmed before the engagement begins.
Why Empty Cup Consulting?
We approach governance as a business and operating problem, not just a software configuration exercise. Our background in data architecture, engineering, dimensional modeling, and analytics helps connect governance recommendations to the systems and teams that will actually use them.
We work with organizations across the United States and can coordinate remote or onsite working sessions based on the engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an assessment take?
Most assessments are scoped for 2–4 weeks. The timeline depends on the number of stakeholders, systems, and data domains included.
Do we need Microsoft Purview or a data catalog?
No. We can assess your current practices without requiring a particular tool. If technology could help, we’ll explain where it fits and what needs to be in place first.
Will you implement the recommendations?
Implementation can be discussed as a separate, scoped engagement. The assessment is intended to give you useful findings and a plan whether or not you continue working with us.
Is this only for large enterprises?
No. Smaller and midsize organizations often benefit from clear ownership, consistent definitions, and a manageable approach to data quality—without enterprise-scale overhead.
Start With a Conversation
Tell us where data governance is creating friction. We’ll discuss the problem, the stakeholders involved, and whether a focused assessment makes sense.
Schedule an Introduction Call or email hello@emptycupconsulting.com.