Data Steward: The Person Standing Between You and Bad Data

Imagine you work as a business analyst in a large organisation. In order to make the next business decision, you and your colleagues need to analyse a specific report. Once you have access to it, you realise that the report contains multiple errors, such as inconsistent numbers and duplicate values.

It's impossible to act on it because you can't trust the data. This situation can quickly degenerate as nobody knows who owns the data, and none of the employees will take accountability for the poor quality of the data, resulting in inaccurate reports.

To avoid these conflicts, companies generally appoint an employee responsible for data quality: The Data Steward. By the end of the module, you will understand exactly what the role involves within the organisation of data.

What is a Data Steward?

As put as simple, a data steward is a business person who is responsible for the quality, consistency and proper use of data within a specific domain.

It contains the "steward" term as the role's mission is to take care of something on behalf of others like a ship steward would do. In the same vein, a data steward takes care of data on behalf of the organisation: keeping it clean, consistent, and fit for purpose, so that every team that depends on it can make decisions with confidence.

What is the agenda of a Data Steward?

Of course, there is not only one data steward, there are many! Their number depends of the scale of their organisation it can grow from 1 to 1000 and sometimes even more! Each of them, when many - are in charge of a domain (marketing, human resources...)

A data steward monitors data quality within their domain. In addition, he defines and applies validation rules. He resolves data issues and escalate when needed, document data definitions (data dictionary), work with data teams to enforce governance standards.

Data steward vs data owner — what's the difference?

The roles of data steward and data owner are often confused. The latter is usually a senior manager.

In short, the data steward is responsible for day-to-day operations. The owner decides the rules, while the steward applies them.

Why does this role matter for your business?

Without data stewards, data issues go unnoticed and there is no clear accountability. In addition, the data steward acts as a bridge between technical and business teams, creating a crucial link to drive data initiatives based on consistent, error-free information.

More broadly, a data steward is a valuable asset to a data organisation, fostering better decision-making, reducing data debt, and ensuring compliance with GDPR rules.