Score your governance gaps before the nextaudit or incident.
A pre-scoped assessment that leaves you with a written governance maturity scorecard, a ranked gap inventory, and a prioritised improvement roadmap, so you can fix what matters before an audit, incident, or platform investment forces your hand.
- Governance maturity scorecard
- Dimension-level ratings across quality, ownership, definitions, access, and lineage, by data domain, so you know where governance is fragile.
- Gap inventory
- A prioritised, ranked list of governance gaps with risk ratings and business impact, written up and ready to present.
- Improvement roadmap
- Quick wins and structured initiatives sequenced by risk reduction and business value, sized so a full governance programme can start without rescoping.
The problem
The audit finds your governance gaps before you do
Governance rarely fails loudly. Definitions drift between teams, ownership becomes unclear, access controls accumulate exceptions, and data lineage stays undocumented. The cost compounds silently. Dashboards lose trust, audit preparation balloons into weeks of manual work, and the next platform investment lands on a foundation no one has written down. By the time the board asks for a picture of governance health, the gap has been widening for months.
Common symptoms
Different teams using different definitions for the same business metrics
Data quality issues appearing in the reports that leadership depends on
No clear ownership when a data problem needs to be investigated or fixed
Compliance and audit questions that take weeks of manual effort to answer
What this costs you
Decision-makers lose trust in reports and revert to spreadsheets and manual checks
Compliance risk compounds as lineage, access controls, and ownership stay undocumented until an audit finds them
The assessment approach
Three phases from scope to a scored gap report
Every phase is pre-scoped and ends in a written artefact. The health check closes with a governance maturity scorecard, a ranked gap inventory, and an improvement roadmap, each tied to business risk rather than theoretical best practice.
Phase 1: Scope
Focus
Identify the critical data domains, systems, and teams in scope, and agree on the governance dimensions the assessment will score.
Key outputs
Assessment scope, domain list, and stakeholder engagement plan.
Phase 2: Assess
Focus
Review quality controls, ownership, definitions, access management, and lineage coverage across each in-scope domain.
Key outputs
Structured findings across all governance dimensions.
Phase 3: Report
Focus
Score governance maturity by dimension, rank gaps by business risk, and produce a written report with a prioritised improvement roadmap.
Key outputs
Written gap report with governance maturity scorecard, gap inventory, and improvement roadmap.
Capabilities
What we deliver
A pre-scoped assessment that ends in a written governance gap report, not an open-ended advisory engagement. Every dimension below is scored once, documented, and handed over.
Data quality assessment
Review of quality controls, known issues, and the processes in place to detect and resolve data quality problems.
Ownership & accountability review
Assessment of data ownership structures and accountability by domain: who is actually responsible when issues arise.
Definitions & business glossary
Evaluation of how consistently business terms and metrics are defined, documented, and applied across teams.
Access control review
Assessment of access management maturity: how access is granted, reviewed, and controlled across data assets.
Lineage coverage assessment
Review of how well data lineage is documented and traceable from source to consumption across in-scope domains.
Compliance readiness review
Assessment of how well current governance supports regulatory and audit requirements, and where the gaps sit.
Is this right for you?
This works for your team if…
If three or more of the conditions below describe your situation, a discovery call is a useful next step.
Data or IT leaders accountable for governance, quality, or compliance
Data & IT leadershipTeams that suspect governance problems but don't have a clear picture of where or how severe
Data & IT leadershipOrganisations preparing for a regulatory review, audit, or compliance certification who need a written baseline first
Compliance & auditCompanies about to commit to a broader governance programme, platform build, or AI roadmap who need a scored gap report to justify the scope
Pre-investment evaluationHow it works
A practical delivery approach
Every engagement follows a clear path from diagnosis to delivery and handover.
Scope & stakeholder mapping
Identify the critical data domains, systems, and responsible teams, and agree on the governance dimensions the assessment will cover.
Assessment scope and stakeholder engagement plan.Assessment
Review quality controls, ownership structures, definitions, access management, and lineage coverage across each in-scope domain.
Structured findings across all governance dimensions.Maturity rating
Score governance maturity against a structured framework by dimension and domain, showing what is working, what is fragile, and what is missing.
Governance maturity scorecard by domain and dimension.Gap report & roadmap
Deliver a written report with dimension scores, a ranked gap inventory, risk ratings, and a prioritised improvement roadmap.
Governance maturity scorecard, gap inventory, and improvement roadmap.
Proof & trust
Results that speak for themselves
Governance maturity scorecard
Dimension-level ratings across quality, ownership, definitions, access, and lineage, by data domain, so you know where governance is fragile.
Gap inventory
A prioritised, ranked list of governance gaps with risk ratings and business impact, written up and ready to present.
Improvement roadmap
Quick wins and structured initiatives sequenced by risk reduction and business value, sized so a full governance programme can start without rescoping.
In practice
What it looks like when it works
Representative results from engagements across our client base.
Context
A data-mature organisation where governance had not kept pace with growth. Definitions had drifted, ownership was unclear, and leadership had started questioning dashboard reliability.
- Governance maturity scorecard
- Ranked gap inventory
- Improvement roadmap
Context
An organisation approaching a regulatory audit with no documented lineage, unclear data ownership, and access controls that had grown inconsistently over several years.
- Lineage gap assessment
- Access control review
- Compliance risk rating
Governance maturity scorecard
Dimension-level scores across quality, ownership, definitions, access, and lineage
Ranked gap inventory
Gaps ranked by business risk and remediation effort
Improvement roadmap
Quick wins and structured initiatives ready to action
Frequently asked questions
Your questions, answered
We assess governance holistically. Data quality is one dimension alongside ownership, business definitions, access controls, lineage, and overall governance maturity.
Typically 2 to 4 weeks end-to-end, depending on the number of domains in scope and stakeholder availability.
Around 2 to 4 hours per participant in total. We design the engagement to minimise internal demand, with most of the analysis done on our side.
A written gap report with a governance maturity scorecard by dimension and domain, a ranked gap inventory with risk ratings, and a prioritised improvement roadmap.
Typically data owners, IT or platform leads, and a business representative from 1 to 2 key data domains.
Yes, and it is designed to. The health check is the diagnostic that scopes and justifies a full governance build, with a ranked gap inventory and an improvement roadmap that plug directly into our Data Governance & Quality solution. Stakeholder alignment and the investment case come out of the report.
That is exactly when the health check is most valuable. The output gives you a clear picture of what to fix first and where the highest business risk sits, before an audit or incident sets the priority for you.
Next step
Where do you want to start?
Pick the path that matches where you are today. Both begin with a conversation.
Ready to see where your governance stands before an audit decides for you?
A short call to walk through the assessment scope and the written gap report you will receive at the end.
- Fixed 2 to 4 week scope and around 2 to 4 hours per stakeholder, no open-ended advisory engagement
- Written governance maturity scorecard, ranked gap inventory, and improvement roadmap at the end
- A prioritised roadmap sized to scope a full governance programme, ready to move into Data Governance & Quality delivery
Start with an assessment
Not ready to commit to a pilot? A 2 to 4 week assessment maps your current state and identifies the highest-value starting point, with no obligation to proceed further.
- Map your current situation and pain points
- Identify 2 to 3 high-value improvement opportunities
- Get a recommended pilot scope and expected outcomes
No obligation. Typical response within 1 business day.
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