Business Requirement
While IBM watsonx.data intelligence provides foundational governance, stewardship, workflow, and remediation capabilities, many critical governance processes still require manual intervention, custom integrations, or external workflow tools. We would like to propose the introduction of an Advanced Governance, a configurable orchestration framework that automates governance processes across the lifecycle of data quality, stewardship, ownership management, compliance, remediation, and governance attestation. The objective is to transform governance activities from fragmented and manually managed processes into automated, measurable, auditable, and risk-based workflows, fully integrated within the watsonx.data intelligence platform.
Proposed Capability
The AGWM should provide a native workflow orchestration layer supporting:
- Event-driven workflow automation
- Configurable workflow templates
- Native integration with Support Hub, ServiceNow, Jira, and other ticketing platforms
- Metadata-driven severity and risk scoring
- Governance ownership validation
- Automated role succession management
- SLA monitoring and escalations
- Scheduled review and attestation workflows
- Cross-platform audit trails
- Workflow dashboards, KPIs, and SLA reporting
Expected Outcomes
The Advanced Governance Workflow Manager would establish a unified governance operating model within watsonx.data intelligence by delivering:
- End-to-end remediation lifecycle management
- Automated governance accountability
- Risk-based prioritisation and routing
- SLA and escalation management
- Continuous governance ownership assurance
- Formal attestation and recertification processes
- Comprehensive auditability and reporting
Requirement 1: Automated DQ Exception Remediation Management
Capability: Data Quality Exception-to-Remediation Workflow Automation
Current State
Data Quality (DQ) exceptions are identified within watsonx.dataintelligence, while remediation activities are tracked separately in external ticketing systems.
This requires:
- Manual ticket creation
- Duplicate data entry
- Limited visibility of remediation progress
- No end-to-end traceability between issue detection and resolution
Requested Enhancement
Provide a native workflow capability that automatically:
- Detects DQ exceptions and SLA breaches.
- Creates remediation tickets in Support Hub (or integrated ticketing platforms).
- Assigns ownership to relevant Data Owners and Data Stewards.
- Synchronizes ticket status bi-directionally.
- Maintains a common unique identifier across platforms.
- Automatically updates issue status when remediation is completed.
- Retains a complete audit history from detection through closure.
Future-State Workflow
DQ Rule Failure
↓
DQ Exception Detected
↓
Severity Assessment
↓
Auto-Create Remediation Ticket
↓
Assign Owner & Steward
↓
Remediation Activities
↓
Bi-Directional Status Sync
↓
Closure Validation
↓
DQ Exception Closed
Business Value
- Eliminates manual ticket creation.
- Reduces duplicate effort.
- Establishes a single source of truth.
- Improves remediation tracking and accountability.
- Enhances governance reporting and auditability.
- Supports regulatory evidence requirements.
Notifications
- Data Owner
- Data Steward
- Data Governance Team
- Data Management Team
Requirement 2: Risk-Based Severity Classification
Capability: Automated Severity and Priority Determination
Current State
Issue severity is typically determined manually, resulting in inconsistent prioritization and remediation decisions.
Requested Enhancement
Provide a configurable rules engine that automatically calculates severity using governance metadata such as:
- Critical Data Element (CDE)
- Personal Information (PI)
- Regulatory Classification
- Security Classification
- Data Domain Criticality
- Business Impact Rating
Example Severity Matrix
CDE |
PI |
Security Classification |
Severity |
Yes |
Yes |
Confidential |
High |
Yes |
No |
Internal |
Medium |
No |
No |
Internal |
Low |
Future-State Workflow
DQ Exception Detected
↓
Metadata Evaluation
↓
Severity Calculation
↓
Priority Assignment
↓
Routing to Resolver Group
Required Capabilities
- Configurable severity matrix
- Policy-driven scoring rules
- Dynamic prioritization
- Automated resolver group routing
- Ticket priority synchronization
Business Value
- Consistent issue prioritization
- Reduced subjectivity
- Faster remediation of high-risk issues
- Improved risk management and compliance
Notifications
- Data Owner
- Data Steward
- Data Governance Team
- Data Management Team
Requirement 3: Governance Ownership Validation and Successor Management
Capability: Automated Governance Ownership Verification
Current State
Governance role assignments are maintained manually and may become invalid due to:
- Employee departures
- Internal transfers
- Extended absence
- Organisational restructuring
This can result in governance assets without active ownership.
Requested Enhancement
Provide native ownership validation through integration with HR systems such as Workday.
The solution should:
- Periodically validate governance role assignments.
- Detect inactive users.
- Identify missing Data Owners and Data Stewards.
- Initiate replacement workflows.
- Escalate unresolved ownership gaps.
- Prevent publication or certification of assets with orphaned ownership.
Future-State Workflow
Scheduled Ownership Validation
↓
HR System Verification
↓
Inactive Owner Detected
↓
Successor Workflow Initiated
↓
Approval of Replacement
↓
Governance Metadata Updated
Business Value
- Maintains governance accountability.
- Prevents orphaned assets.
- Improves audit readiness.
- Supports continuity during organisational change.
Notifications
Primary
- Data Governance Team
- Data Management Team
Secondary
- Domain Data Owner
- Line Manager
- Successor Candidate
Type: System-Based
Requirement 4: Automated Escalation and SLA Management
Capability: Aged Issue Escalation Framework
Current State
Open remediation activities may remain unresolved for extended periods without structured escalation.
Requested Enhancement
Provide configurable escalation workflows based on:
- Issue age
- Severity
- SLA breach status
- Business criticality
Example Escalation Model
Stage 1 (90 Days)
Notify:
Stage 2 (180 Days)
Notify:
- Domain Data Owner
- Data Governance Lead
- Data Management Lead
Stage 3 (270+ Days)
Escalate to:
- Executive Sponsor
- Senior Leadership
- Risk and Compliance Teams
Future-State Workflow
Open Issue
↓
90 Days
↓
Stage 1 Escalation
↓
180 Days
↓
Stage 2 Escalation
↓
270+ Days
↓
Executive Escalation
Additional Reporting
Generate automated escalation reports showing:
- Open issues
- Ageing analysis
- Severity distribution
- Ownership status
- SLA performance
- Remediation progress
Business Value
- Increased accountability
- Improved SLA compliance
- Greater management visibility
- Reduced operational and regulatory risk
- Stronger governance oversight
Notifications
- Data Owner
- Data Steward
- Data Governance Team
- Data Management Team
- Executive Sponsors
Requirement 5: Governance Attestation and Metadata Recertification
Capability: Recurring Governance Review and Attestation Framework
Current State
Governance artefacts often become outdated due to the absence of structured review cycles.
Review management is frequently performed manually or outside the platform.
Requested Enhancement
Provide a configurable workflow capability that supports recurring review and attestation schedules.
Supported Frequencies
- Quarterly
- Semi-Annual
- Annual
- Custom
Applicable Assets
- Business Terms
- Critical Data Elements (CDEs)
- Data Quality Rules
- Policies
- Governance Controls
- Glossary Assets
- Data Products
- Catalogue Assets
Future-State Workflow
Review Due Date Reached
↓
Attestation Workflow Triggered
↓
Owner Review
↓
Approve / Amend / Retire
↓
Review Completion Logged
↓
Next Review Scheduled
Mandatory Metadata
Automatically maintain:
- Last Review Date
- Next Review Date
- Reviewer
- Review Outcome
- Review Frequency
- Compliance Status
Business Value
- Ensures metadata remains accurate and current.
- Improves trust in governance assets.
- Strengthens regulatory compliance.
- Increases governance maturity.
- Prevents stale or obsolete artefacts.
Notifications
- Data Steward
- Domain Data Owner
- Data Governance Team
