The data governance office includes representatives from all of the factions within the data governance structure; stewards and stakeholders are both included.  The goal of this office is to unite all the departments within an organization to identify data issues and determine a solution with the help of the data stakeholders.

The data governance office has many responsibilities including the standardization of processes and methods to support the mission and vision of the organization.  This office also identifies a contact person form each department that is affected by the data, either directly or indirectly.  They must communicate effectively with the different lines of business within the enterprise; and they monitor trends and drivers and report them to the departments concerned.  They provide communication updates to all departments, including the stakeholder council and initiate activities that that help to guarantee cohesiveness within all departments.  They are responsible for showing the importance of data governance to the organization as a whole and keeping a detailed list or spreadsheet of any and all data governance issues.

The data governance office also has the responsibility of establishing a data stewardship council.  The function of this council is to make sure the data is clearly defined, and is being used consistently throughout all applications.  They remove conflicting and unused data; and make sure the data’s origins and sources are adequately documented.  The data governance office also counter-checks existing policies and procedures being carried out to the stakeholders.  They collect metrics and best practices and report them to the departments concerned.

Some smaller companies do not have a formal data governance office in place; they do employ a similar concept, but much smaller in scale.  These are they people that do it all in smaller companies; data analysts and data architects.  Whether or not an actual data governance office exists, the role of the data governance office should be carried out to ensure an effective data management and data governance program for any company, large or small.