Trends in ERP – the last in the series (having reviewed mobile, Cloud and IoT in relation to ERP) now a few words on the benefits of having a robust governance strategy.
Data governance is a subject dear to my heart and one that I believe should be a fundamental part of any system architecture and be captured in training, compliance, and ownership. And just to go full circle, your governance strategy will also encompass your security.
Constructing governance phases:
Security strategy – this wouldn’t normally be 1st on your list except this has been my focus in this month’s newsletter. Governance has an impact on who takes responsibility and ownership of every endpoint, device and individual – effectively who is the keeper of the keys. This dictates that anyone accessing the ERP, or the data has the right permissions, identity, and security.
Development – most ERP will have a cycle of upgrades, updates and bespoke development or customisations and these need rules of governance to ensure business continuity. With flexible working hours when do you apply patches or updates?
Sharing – here the new phrase “Zero Trust” is worth considering as you assume everything is a potential threat. From sharing an excel file over email to granting system permissions, all sharing needs to be authenticated and governed. Use of visualisation tools can assist as you can share the visuals without giving access to the data.
People – remote working has shown us how the People, Processes and Technology are inextricably linked. And so, people need structure and rules and proper training.
ERP maybe innovating, but the governance strategy does not always keep pace. There is a company I came across recently that you might find useful: Security Awareness Training | Cyber Risk & Compliance Reporting (cyberriskaware.com)
Building an ERP Governance Strategy is something we are good at, with our data and industry experts. And it is worth noting that an external consultant can often bring best practice that can help build a more robust governance strategy.