Implementation Guide for Efficient Data Governance

Environment requirements

Background information

In collaborative data teams, data governance is essential but complex. Teams often face the following challenges when addressing “how to set objective data governance goals” and “how to efficiently drive the team toward those goals”:

• Hard to pinpoint issues: Traditional governance methods struggle to quickly, comprehensively, and accurately identify potential problems. This reduces long-term governance efficiency and wastes data costs due to delayed remediation.

• Lack of actionable methods: Governance personnel lack scientific strategies and tools to effectively carry out governance activities.

• Hard to track effectiveness: Without timely data analysis and effect tracking, teams cannot quickly adjust governance strategies based on goal progress.

The Data Governance Center is a DataWorks module that implements proactive and automated data governance. To address these challenges, it provides scenario-based governance plan templates—including data stability governance, storage cost governance, and computing cost governance—to help users efficiently set and achieve data governance goals.

Each template includes selectable governance goals, proven strategies, and practical tools to accelerate goal achievement. Additionally, governance plans include mechanisms for periodic tracking and evaluation of governance effectiveness, helping teams understand results and continuously improve governance outcomes to build an efficient, scientific, and sustainable data governance model.

Basic workflow

As a governance plan owner, you rely on data analysis methods and governance tools for both phased planning and daily governance. The end-to-end process—from setting to achieving governance goals—follows these steps:

The following sections present typical operational cases for storage cost optimization and stability optimization to illustrate how to implement governance workflows using DataWorks Data Governance Center tools.

Implementation guide for storage resource optimization governance

Storage resource optimization is the most common starting point for cost-related data governance. It effectively reduces data storage costs, improves storage efficiency, and controls data warehouse team expenses. It also helps enterprises better manage data to enhance security and reliability.

Step 1: Identify cost governance priorities and plan governance work

At the start of cost governance, the owner must establish a governance framework to understand the current state of cost management, clarify key focus areas for phased planning, and define how to govern and measure success or failure. For storage resource optimization, focus on reasonably reducing storage, minimizing backups, improving compression ratios, and lowering total storage fees through rule definition and governance checks to achieve high-ROI storage governance.

Take a data platform team’s governance owner as an example. This person manages data costs for their team and serves as the administrator for all DataWorks data warehouse workspaces. They handle daily operations management and cost management, and drive data governance initiatives.

At the beginning of the year, the owner inventories existing data platform resources and analyzes the distribution of invalid or inefficient resources. After analysis, they plan annual and quarterly data governance work. The owner logs on to the Data Governance Center in DataWorks and begins analysis using the data governance health assessment model.

Log on to the DataWorks console. In the target region, click Data Governance > Data Asset Governance in the left-side navigation pane. Click Go to Data Asset Governance.

The Data Governance Center in DataWorks uses metadata and its built-in governance knowledge base to automatically perform multidimensional statistical analysis on tables, tasks, and other assets in the data platform team’s workspace. The system generates a list of potential governance issues based on rules in the knowledge base. Owners can review the knowledge base to understand all governance dimensions and specific issue detection rules.

The Data Governance Center overview page shows a current governance health score of 91.39 (rating: Excellent). A five-dimensional radar chart covers development, storage, computing, quality, and security. The Asset Analysis module on the right shows 134 total assets (75 tasks, 59 tables) and 69.64 GB of storage consumption.

The owner has identified cost governance as their primary focus. Based on business requirements and historical analysis, their team’s main cost driver is storage cost management. The core goal is to control data resource cost growth by focusing on invalid or inefficient storage tables and driving owners to unpublish or optimize table resources. The immediate objective is to minimize storage growth without impacting business operations.

Step 2: Select a scenario-based governance plan and precisely identify potential issues

1. In the top menu bar, select Workbench, then select Governance Plans in the structure tree on the left.

2. Click Create Governance Plan, select Storage Resource Optimization, and the system automatically creates a governance plan of this template type.

3. Configure the basic information for the governance plan.

   The owner must confirm the plan name and description. Since this plan supports team collaboration, provide clear details about the governance focus. Include background, goals, scope, and notes in the description.

4. Set governance goals and timeline.

   • Core Goal: This defines the expected outcome and scale after completing governance phases. Select a goal aligned with your storage optimization target—for example, “Storage Saved.” You can also choose “Storage Health Score” or “Tables Governed.”

   • When setting the core goal, the storage governance plan automatically selects all storage cost optimization-related issue detection rules within the owner’s permissions. It estimates the maximum achievable value if all issues are resolved and sets this as the default initial target.

     • For example, the storage governance plan identifies 300 issues across 100 tables related to storage savings on that day.

     • If full governance of these tables is estimated to save 500 GB, the system defaults the target to 500 GB.

     • The owner can adjust the target based on expectations and timelines. For instance, governing only 50 tables under the “Long-Unaccessed” category—with an estimated total storage of 300 GB—sets the target to “Storage Saved” >= 300 GB.

   • Validity Period: Set the plan completion date based on actual needs. For example, to unpublish all “Long-Unaccessed” tables within 15 days, set the end date to 15 days from now.

5. Select governance content.

   For targeted or fine-grained governance, customize the content to govern, such as:

   • Filter issues assigned to yourself.

   • Filter issues in specific workspaces or projects.

   • Select high-impact governance items and deselect low-impact ones.

   Click Manage Selected Items. In the issue details table, filter by key workspaces and use batch selection or deselection in the bottom-left governance actions. After confirmation, the system re-estimates maximum effectiveness. If the gap from the target is large, adjust the target value accordingly.

6. Configure governance members and progress notifications.

   Governance members: After confirming goals and issues, the system auto-fills task assignees based on selected issues. Add members who need to view the plan or receive governance messages.

   Progress notifications: Select recipients, notification frequency, and method based on needs. We strongly recommend adding Webhook URLs for your team’s DingTalk, WeChat, or Lark groups to efficiently drive collaborative governance. Historical data shows teams using group-based governance with periodic reminders achieve 90% higher efficiency. For more information, see Scenario practice: Send alert messages to a DingTalk group.

7. Click Save and Publish to activate the governance plan.

Step 3: Use governance tools to efficiently achieve storage cost reduction

1. Click Operation next to the created governance plan, then click Governance Details.

2. In Governance Details, review current progress and analyze key governance items and responsible persons.

3. Click Governance Optimization to view high-impact issues based on your goals. Both task assignees and plan owners with operation permissions can perform actual governance here.

4. Resolve specific issues.

   Use recommended functions based on knowledge base descriptions and system-suggested actions to improve governance effectiveness and efficiency. For “Long Lifecycle” tables no longer needed by the business, batch-select and quickly apply the system-recommended lifecycle policy. For long-unaccessed tables and their output tasks, directly gracefully unpublish them and their unaccessed output tables.

   Items governed on a given day are rechecked the next day. If resolved, their status changes to “Governed,” allowing you to track daily governance gains and contribution to overall goals.

Step 4: Perform periodic data analysis and track effectiveness

1. View active governance plans.

   Task assignees and plan owners receive daily governance plan notifications. Analyze current-period progress and pending work, and promptly address plan-wide or personal issues to achieve goals faster.

   

   Click View Today’s Report to enter the periodic report module for effectiveness analysis and tracking. Plan owners can review today’s data analysis report to understand activity effectiveness and trends. View daily governance reports from a global perspective to monitor governance status, goal progress, and team workload distribution.

   Both plan owners and task assignees can use analysis results to adjust and optimize governance strategies for better outcomes.

2. The plan has either been achieved or expired without being achieved.

   • When task assignees’ governance efforts meet the system-defined target, the system automatically marks the plan as Achieved and generates a comprehensive summary analyzing the entire governance cycle.

   • If the plan expires without meeting the target, the system marks it as Not Achieved and generates a summary report for the cycle. The owner can review incomplete work, copy the plan, and continue governance in the next cycle.

Implementation guide for data stability optimization governance

Stability governance is the foundational priority for any data team. It directly impacts the team’s assessment of daily development output quality and commitments to business availability.

Step 1: Clarify governance direction and plan governance work

A governance owner from a company’s data warehouse development team manages data for their team and serves as the administrator for their DataWorks workspace. They drive data governance initiatives and now need to plan quarterly governance work. As the owner, they must establish a governance framework to clarify what to govern this quarter, how to govern it, and how to measure success or failure.

Log on to the DataWorks console. In the target region, click Data Governance > Data Asset Governance in the left-side navigation pane. Click Go to Data Asset Governance.

The Data Governance Center in DataWorks uses metadata and its built-in governance knowledge base to automatically perform multidimensional statistical analysis on tables, tasks, and other assets in the data analysis team’s workspace. The system generates a list of potential governance issues based on rules in the knowledge base. Owners can review the knowledge base to understand all governance dimensions and specific issue detection rules.

The owner identifies development governance as their primary focus. Given current business needs, they are in the data warehouse stability governance phase and aim to reduce failed tasks and their impact to uphold SLA commitments to the business.

Step 2: Select a scenario-based governance plan and precisely identify potential issues

1. In the top menu bar, select Workbench, then select Governance Plans in the structure tree on the left.

2. Click Create Governance Plan, select Data Stability Optimization, and the system automatically creates a governance plan of this template type.

3. Configure the basic information for the governance plan.

   The owner must confirm the plan name and description. Since this plan supports team collaboration, provide clear details about the governance focus. Include background, goals, scope, and notes in the description.

4. Set governance goals and timeline. In the content selection area, the system displays multiple selectable governance item cards, including Development | Excessive Task Wait Time (98), Development | Paused Nodes (96), Development | Nodes Failed for 7 Consecutive Days (17), Development | Conflicting Tasks (4), Development | Dry-Run Nodes (4), Quality | Popular Tables Without Quality Rules (4), Quality | Tables With Unhandled Quality Alerts (4), and Development | Missing Upstream Dependencies (1). The summary shows 228 selected issues involving 8 tables and 210 tasks, with an estimated maximum of 228 optimizable issues (100% target achievement). Click Manage Selection Details to view specific governance objects.

   • Core Goal: The system scopes relevant issues within the owner’s permissions and estimates the maximum achievable value if all are resolved, defaulting this as the initial target. For example, if 228 stability-related issues are identified that day, the target defaults to 228, with a maximum optimizable count of 228.

   • Validity Period: Set the plan completion date based on actual needs. For example, to resolve all high-baseline task issues within 15 days, select all 228 issues and set the target to “Issues Optimized” >= 228, adjusting the end date to 15 days from now.

5. Select governance content.

   For targeted or fine-grained governance, customize the content to govern, such as:

   • Filter issues assigned to yourself.

   • Filter issues in specific workspaces or projects.

   • Select high-impact governance items and deselect low-impact ones.

   Click Manage Selected Items. Filter for your scenario and use batch selection or deselection in the bottom-left governance actions. The system re-estimates effectiveness, and if the gap is large, adjust the target value.

6. Configure governance members and progress notifications.

   Governance members: After confirming goals and issues, the system auto-fills task assignees based on selected issues. Add members who need to view the plan or receive governance messages.

   Progress notifications: Select recipients, notification frequency, and method based on needs. We strongly recommend adding Webhook URLs for your team’s DingTalk, WeChat, or Lark groups. Historical data shows teams using group-based governance with periodic reminders achieve 90% higher efficiency. For more information, see Scenario practice: Send alert messages to a DingTalk group.

7. Click Save and Publish to activate the governance plan.

Step 3: Use governance tools

1. Click Operation next to the created governance plan, then click Governance Details.

2. In Governance Details, review current progress and analyze key governance items and responsible persons. The governance plan details page defaults to the Governance Overview tab (with Governance Optimization and Periodic Reports tabs available). The top section shows basic info: core goal (e.g., Issues Optimized >= 237), timeline, progress percentage (e.g., 4.64%), responsible persons, notification method, and task assignees. The Governance Progress table below lists key optimizable items with names, goal achievement percentages, and pending issue counts.

3. Click Governance Optimization to view high-impact issues based on your goals. Both task assignees and plan owners with operation permissions can perform actual governance here. In the Governance Optimization tab under Governance Details, select the Ungoverned filter to view governance item cards with pending issue counts and max completion percentages, including categories like Paused Nodes, Nodes Failed for 7 Consecutive Days, Tables With Unhandled Quality Alerts, and Excessive Task Wait Time.

4. Review specific issues.

   Use recommended functions based on knowledge base descriptions and system-suggested actions to improve governance effectiveness and efficiency. For “Paused Nodes” and “Nodes Failed for 7 Consecutive Days” no longer needed by the business, batch-select and gracefully unpublish them—the entire unpublishing judgment and process can be fully automated. The governance item penalty node list shows each node’s Node Name, Node ID, Node Type, Workspace, Task Owner, and Governance Penalty. In the Actions column, you can Create Unpublish Plan, Add to Whitelist, or Change Owner.

   Items governed on a given day are rechecked the next day. If resolved, their status changes to “Governed,” allowing you to track daily governance gains and contribution to overall goals.

5. Enable proactive interception for check items.

   Beyond resolving existing issues, workspace administrators must proactively control new governance issues during development to avoid undermining ongoing efforts. The Data Governance Center uses check item configuration to manage incremental issues during data development and submission.

   Recommended check items vary by governance goal. For stability governance, the system suggests development-dimension checks related to data compliance, accuracy, and runtime stability, such as:

   Recommended check items include Prohibit MAX_PT Function, Prohibit SELECT *, Prohibit Table Creation in SQL, Table Schema Consistency Check, Prohibit INSERT INTO with Rerun Attribute, and Scheduling Parameter Omission Checker.

   Owners can view actionable check items in Governance Overview, navigate to the relevant workspace, and enable them as needed. After enabling, owners can track the number of issues proactively verified and intercepted during the cycle to monitor proactive governance effectiveness.

Step 4: Perform periodic data analysis and track effectiveness

1. View active governance plans.

   Task assignees and plan owners receive daily governance plan notifications. Analyze current-period progress and pending work, and promptly address plan-wide or personal issues to achieve goals faster.

   Click View Today’s Report to enter the periodic report module for effectiveness analysis and tracking. Plan owners can review today’s data analysis report to understand activity effectiveness and trends. View daily governance reports from a global perspective to monitor governance status, goal progress, and team workload distribution.

   The report page has three sections: The top Governance Goals area shows the target value, timeline, and a progress trend chart (with three lines: optimized issues, total issues, target value). The middle Today’s Governance Effectiveness area supports switching between Global View and Personal View, displaying four metrics: Issues Optimized Today, Tasks Optimized Today, Overall Health Score Today, and Development Health Score Today. The bottom Governance Owner Rankings table lists each owner’s optimized issues, goal achievement percentage, pending issues, and health score.

   Both plan owners and task assignees can use analysis results to adjust and optimize governance strategies for better outcomes.

2. Plan achieved or expired unachieved

   • When task assignees’ governance efforts meet the system-defined target, the system automatically marks the plan as Achieved and generates a comprehensive summary analyzing the entire governance cycle.

   • If the plan expires without meeting the target, the system marks it as Not Achieved and generates a summary report for the cycle. The owner can review incomplete work, copy the plan, and continue governance in the next cycle.

Summary

By following the steps above, data governance users can fully leverage the Data Governance Center to implement digital governance strategies and build a sustainable governance management system for greater efficiency:

• Improve efficiency in precisely identifying potential issues

• Improve efficiency in resolving issues

• Improve efficiency in analyzing and reporting governance effectiveness

In the era of data governance, the Data Governance Center provides enterprises with more professional, flexible, and efficient governance solutions, bringing new ideas and transformations to data management. We continue updating our built-in scenario-based governance templates to support more accurate, reliable goals and safer, automated governance operations.

Contact us

If you have questions or need further support during use, feel free to join our DingTalk group to contact us.