Analysis and Classification of Barriers and Critical Success Factors for Implementing a Cloud Data Governance Strategy

Abstract The general consensus in literature seems to suggest that data governance refers to the entirety of decision rights and responsibilities concerning the management of data assets in organisations. These definitions do not however provide equal prominence for the data governance within the cloud computing technology context. As such, this deficit calls for in-depth understanding of data governance and cloud Computing. This trend contributes to changes in data governance strategy in the organisation, such as the organisation’s structure and regulations, people, technology, process, roles and responsibilities. This is one of the great challenges facing organizations today when they move their data to Cloud Computing environments, particularly how Cloud technology affects data governance. The authors’ general observation reveals that the area of data governance in general is under researched and not widely practiced by organisations, let alone when it is concerned with cloud computing, where research is really in its infancy and far from reaching maturity. This paper attempts to identify the possible common barriers and critical success factors for implementing cloud data governance in the hope that it helps the reader to be aware of these barriers and consider them in future developments in the field.