Why Data Governance, Data Contracts, and FinOps Succeed or Fail
I have read many great articles and posts about Data Governance and Data Contracts, Snowflake and Databrics success and failures, most are blaming technology or decisions and explaing why they succeed and why they fail in different projects. Having been involved in numerous technoligy driven initiatives, I have seen both successful transformations and outright failures.
The key takeaway? It’s almost never about whether you choose Solution X over Solution Y. It’s not even about the beautifully designed, scalable, serverless architecture you designed and implemeted (unfortunately!).
Man is affected not by changing events, but by the view he takes of them. — Seneca
The real challenge is always about people and change and their view and opinion.
Change is About People
When organisations set up a Data Mesh, establish Data Contracts, or implement Data Governance frameworks, they often focus on the technical execution. But the truth is, the outcome, success or failure, is never about the Data Contracts, the Governance, or the BI solution. It always comes down to people and how well we manage change.
You can hold countless Data Governance meetings and create detailed, well structured Data Contracts, but if the people involved don’t embrace the change, it will for sure fail. And honestly managing change and people is one of the most complicated challenges in life!
For example, implementing Data Contracts (which is a fantastic concept) will not work if people don’t understand the benefits or the risks involved. A Data Contract is just an agreement. If no one updates it, follows up on it, or cares about it, it becomes irrelevant.
FinOps is not about creating Power BI reports or reducing cloud costs, it’s about shifting mindsets. It’s about getting people to care and take responsibility for their decisions and actions. While technology can support this transformation, the foundational work must be about driving change first.
How to Ensure Successful Data Governance, Quality, and Data Contracts
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Every project and organisation is different. But if you want to set yourself up for success, the most critical thing you can do is start listening.
1. Start Listening and Keep Listening
Listen (and keep listening) to the concerns and feedback from the people affected by the change. Pay attention to meeting discussions, gather input through surveys, and, most importantly, follow up on those surveys. If you don’t listen, you’re simply pushing your own agenda, and that approach is destined to fail.
2. Act on What You Hear
Once you start listening, take action. Address frustrations, acknowledge risks, and work on solutions while continuing listening. Change is a continuous process of adaptation and engagement not a one time job.
3. Focus on These Three Key Questions:
Why Do We Need to Change?
- Clearly explain the reasons behind the change.
- Highlight inefficiencies and frustrations caused by current processes.
- Make it evident that the status quo is not sustainable.
What Are the Benefits of Changing?
- Identify the benefits not for the organisation, but for everyone.
- Show how the change will positively impact their daily life.
- Provide tangible examples of time savings, reduced frustration, and maybe better work-life balance.
What Are the Risks of Not Changing?
- Outline the risks of doing nothing — not just for the company but for the people involved.
- Avoid making it solely about the business e.g., “if we don’t do this, we will go bankrupt”, it doesn’t help. Nokia’s chief executive told the staff: ‘we are standing on a burning platform’, it really didn’t change anything in the end.
- Instead, personalise the risks: “If we don’t change, you’ll continue wasting hours every week on manual tasks instead of focusing on meaningful work.”
Make It Personal and Keep Spreading the Message
Most people don’t care that much about their employer (Nokia, burning platform, did they care?) but they do care about their work-life balance and being happy. They care about picking up their kids on time, being able to join a meeting remotely, or avoiding frustrating inefficiencies in their workday. Personalising the benefits and risks makes the change real and relatable.
Finally, involve people at all levels. Nominate ambassadors who can advocate for the change, drive engagement, and help communicate the benefits across teams. And most importantly, keep the conversation and the listening part going. Change is not a one-time event, it’s an ongoing journey that requires continuous reinforcement and energy.
By shifting the focus from technology and processes to people and behavioral change, you’ll have a much higher chance of success in your Data Governance, Data Contracts, and FinOps initiatives. Start listening, start engaging, and start changing, one person at a time.
Also, a secret, it’s not only about Data Governance, Data Contracts and FinOps, it’s about everything in life.
Everything you see will soon alter and cease to exist. Think of how many changes you’ve already seen; the world is nothing but change. — Marcus Aurelius
Follow me on LinkedIn if you more care about beautiful serverless scaleable architecture than change :-)
