Read - Part I - Self-Service Analytics: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Read - Part II: One Size Does Not Fit All: Customizing Self-Service Analytics For Business Users

Read - Part III - Self-Service Workflows: Curate, Create, Consume

Are you drowning in reports? Are your power users using new self-service tools to create a tangle of conflicting metrics and reports? Are your regular business users confused about which reports to use? And whom to go to request custom reports?

If any of these scenarios plague your BI environment, you are a prime candidate for report watermarks. 

A report watermark or stamp is a seal of approval that is affixed to a report to indicate that the data in the report has been vetted and approved by data experts in the organization. It usually contains a timestamp and an icon of some sort indicating approval that can be seen at the top or bottom corner of every page of a report or dashboard. (See figure 1.)

Figure 1. Sample Timestamp

In essence, a report watermark is the visible evidence of a data governance process that enables organizations to combat spreadmarts and renegade reporting environments without unduly repressing self-service activity. The existence of a watermark can totally transform a Wild West, self-service reporting environment into a healthy governed, data delivery environment.

“Our watermark [above] has really changed behavior in our organization. When executives open a Tableau report, they first look for the watermark in the bottom right corner. If it’s not there, they ask why not and question the data,” says a manager of business intelligence and data warehousing at a major forestry product company. “As a result, our Tableau users are eager to go through the governance process to get the watermark.”

Essentially, a watermark indicates to business users that a report is “safe” to use for decision making. The mark helps users distinguish between curated and non-curated data. Before long, business users start refusing to use reports that don’t carry the seal of approval. This creates a culture of governance from the ground up. Rather than work independently, power users recognize the value of working through formal channels to publish reports for broad-based consumption.

Data Governance Process

A watermark presupposes the existence of a data governance program and a commitment by executives at the top and the organization as a whole to standardize key metrics and data elements. It requires a data governance process to promote and review reports submitted by both BI and business users. (See figure 2.)

Figure 2. Sample Report Review Process

An effective data governance process balances the time required to complete a thorough review with the need to process requests in a timely manner. The death knell of data governance is an overly slow and bureaucratic process that business users ignore and eventually circumvent.

Fast Track Requests. Figure 2 above shows a data governance workflow that contains a fast track for standard repeat requests, such as the addition of a new column to a report. Here, forms are pre-filled and directed to the BI manager instead of a cross-functional IT committee. The BI manager approves the request and sends to the appropriate BI expert to review with a promised turn-around time of two days.

For one-off or more complex submissions, such as changes to the data warehouse, the review process can extend a week or two. And in some cases, the IT team may need to rework elements of the data warehouse or BI semantic layer to conform the new data elements with the rest of the business and data architecture.

A well-designed data governance program gives business users and line-of-business BI professionals incentive to work through the process instead of avoiding it. The watermark is the carrot that keeps report authors engaged with the process. Once a report or dashboard carries the watermark, authors know that business users will use it to make decisions and influence the direction of the company.

Summary

It’s uncanny that a small icon can have big impact. Watermarks are visible representations of an active data governance process. When implemented successfully, watermarks can create a culture of governance that balances self service with standards and helps organizations turn data into a productive asset.