Data
Understand what information exists and where it is stored.
AWSMTECH · Managed Intelligence
Data governance
Organise, protect and control your data to prepare your business for Business Intelligence and artificial intelligence.
Managed Intelligence
Control your data before giving it more power.
Your data is spread across Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, business applications, CRM, ERP, files and cloud platforms. Over the years, it multiplies, gets copied and shared, and sometimes becomes hard to control.
- Who can access what?
- Which information is sensitive?
- What must we keep?
- Where is our important data actually located?
- Are current access rights still justified?
AWSMTECH helps you put in place governance that makes your data more accessible when it needs to be, better protected when it is sensitive, and better prepared for new artificial intelligence uses.
- Know
- Classify
- Protect
- Govern
- Leverage
Scattered data
Your data is everywhere. Your governance must follow it.
For a long time, company data was mainly stored on servers and shared folders. Today, information flows across many environments:
- Microsoft 365
- SharePoint
- Teams
- OneDrive
- Business applications
- CRM
- ERP
- Cloud
This evolution makes collaboration easier. But it also introduces a challenge: keeping a clear view of information and who can access it.
Effective governance therefore aims to answer simple but essential questions:
- What data do we have?
- Where is it?
- Who owns it?
- Who can access it?
- How long must we keep it?
- How may it be used?
Definition
What is data governance?
Data governance defines the framework that allows an organisation to manage, protect and use its data consistently. It connects several dimensions:
Users
Determine who should be able to access the different categories of information.
Rules
Define how data may be used, shared or retained.
Technology
Implement the mechanisms that apply these principles.
Accountability
Clarify who is responsible for information and the decisions that concern it.
The goal is therefore not purely technical.
Governance sets the rules of the game that allow the business to use its data with greater control.
Approach
From scattered data to controlled data
- 01
Discover
Identify the main data sources and understand how information flows within the organisation.
- 02
Understand
Identify the data that is important, sensitive or critical to the business's activities.
- 03
Classify
Structure the different categories of information by nature and required level of protection.
- 04
Control
Define the access, sharing and protection principles suited to each data category.
- 05
Govern
Define the responsibilities and rules that keep this organisation in place over time.
- 06
Leverage
Create an environment in which Business Intelligence, automation and AI can use data within a controlled framework.
- Discover
- Understand
- Classify
- Control
- Govern
- Leverage
Classification
Not all data has the same value
A public sales brochure does not require the same level of protection as a confidential contract, financial information or a file containing personal data. Yet many organisations have historically treated all their information in much the same way.
More mature governance means adapting the rules to the nature of the information.
For example, a business could define categories such as:
- 01
Public
Information intended to be freely shared.
- 02
Internal
Business information intended for employees.
- 03
Confidential
Information requiring restricted access.
- 04
Highly confidential
Particularly sensitive information requiring enhanced measures.
Access
The principle of least privilege
The right information, accessible to the right people.
In an environment that has evolved over several years, access rights can gradually pile up. An employee changes role. A team is reorganised. A project ends. A SharePoint site is created. A file is shared. And some access may remain in place longer than necessary.
A person should have the access their work requires, without needlessly accumulating rights to information they do not need.
This principle becomes even more important with the arrival of artificial intelligence.
Copilot & AI
Copilot does not create your governance
AI can make already insufficient governance far more visible.
When an organisation considers Microsoft Copilot or other AI solutions connected to internal information, governance takes on a new dimension. Before making information easier to search and use, it becomes essential to understand which information each user is authorised to view. The question is therefore not only: “Are we ready for Copilot?”
But: “Is our data environment controlled enough for us to use AI with confidence?”
Without governance, AI does not fix information chaos. It risks amplifying it.
Data vs AI
Data governance & AI governance
Data governance
“How do we control our information?”
It covers data, its owners, access rights, classification and lifecycle.
AI governance
“How do we want to use artificial intelligence?”
It frames tools, authorised uses, responsibilities, controls and the data that may be used in different AI scenarios.
Together
Data governance protects and organises information.
AI governance defines how intelligence can use it.
Microsoft 365
Governance & Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is where a significant share of company information is created and exchanged.
SharePoint
Organisation of and access to document spaces.
Teams
Collaboration and information sharing.
OneDrive
Individual work data and sharing.
Entra ID
Identities and access control to resources.
Microsoft Purview
Information classification and protection, when these features are part of the project.
- Managed IT
- Security
- Data
- AI
Balance
Governance should not stop people working
Governance that is too weak increases risk. But governance that is too complex can also push employees to look for ways around the rules.
The right balance is a framework robust enough to protect information, yet simple enough to remain usable.
Good governance does not stop information from flowing. It lets it flow to the right place, between the right people and in the right context.
Lifecycle
The information lifecycle
- Create
- Use
- Share
- Retain
- Archive
- Delete
- 01
Create
Information enters the company's digital environment.
- 02
Use
It takes part in day-to-day activities.
- 03
Share
It may be made available to other people as needed.
- 04
Retain
Some information must be kept for a certain period.
- 05
Archive
Some data is no longer used daily but must remain accessible.
- 06
Delete
When the applicable conditions are met, some information may reach the end of its lifecycle.
AWSMTECH can help integrate this logic into the overall governance of your digital environment.
Compliance
Data governance & compliance
Data governance can help structure how an organisation knows, protects and manages its information. However, it is not an automatic guarantee of regulatory compliance.
Structured data governance contributes to information control and is an important component of a broader approach to data protection, cybersecurity and compliance.
Business Intelligence
Governance & Business Intelligence
To use data properly, you must also be able to trust it. Clear governance helps define:
- Which data is the reference?
- Who is responsible for it?
- How is an indicator calculated?
- Which sources should feed reporting?
This provides an important foundation for your Business Intelligence projects. The progression:
- 01
Data governance
→ Make data controllable
- 02
Business Intelligence
→ Make data understandable
- 03
AI
→ Enrich how it is used
- 04
Automation
→ Turn information into action
SMEs
Governance tailored to SMEs
Governing does not mean adding bureaucracy.
An SME does not necessarily need dozens of policies, committees and complex procedures. It needs:
- Clear responsibilities
- A few rules everyone understands
- Appropriate classification
- Controlled access
- Properly configured tools
- A process to maintain this governance over time
Our goal: to bring the governance of a mature organisation without imposing the complexity of a large enterprise.
Why AWSMTECH
Why AWSMTECH?
IT + Data + Security + AI
We bring together the dimensions needed to address data in its real environment.
Microsoft 365 at the core
For organisations built on the Microsoft ecosystem, governance and the collaborative environment are closely linked.
A risk-based approach
Not all data requires the same controls.
Pragmatic governance
Building enough rules to control information without needlessly slowing users down.
Preparing for AI
Better governance creates an environment better suited to Copilot adoption and future AI use cases.
A local Swiss partner
An approach particularly suited to SMEs and organisations that care about confidentiality, data control and governance.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Data governance refers to the set of responsibilities, rules and practices put in place to determine how data is organised, accessed, protected, used and managed over time.
Security mainly aims to protect information against certain risks. Governance is broader: it defines the rules, responsibilities, uses and principles for managing information.
Because using AI tools on company information makes it even more important to have properly controlled access rights and information organisation.
The first mainly concerns data. The second mainly concerns the conditions under which artificial intelligence solutions are used. The two must be coordinated.
Not necessarily. Classification should remain proportionate to the organisation's needs and risks. An overly complex approach can become difficult to adopt and maintain.
No. As soon as a business handles customer, financial, contractual, HR or strategic information, having clear rules for managing it can be genuinely valuable.
Managed Intelligence
Before making your data smarter, make it controllable.
Business Intelligence, Copilot, automation and AI agents will gradually increase businesses' ability to use their information. But this evolution requires a solid foundation. AWSMTECH helps you build pragmatic data governance, robust enough to protect your information and simple enough for your teams to use it.
Schedule a callA question about your data governance? Write to us