What you'll learn

Organizations face real risks from unclear ownership, inconsistent enforcement, and governance processes that generate meetings but fail to drive action. In this course, Data Governance: Operating Models, you'll gain the ability to design governance operating models that clearly define how authority, accountability, and participation are distributed across an organization. First, you'll explore common operating model patterns, including centralized, decentralized, federated, hybrid, hub-and-spoke, data mesh, and data fabric, while evaluating their tradeoffs in speed, consistency, ownership, and scalability. Next, you'll discover how to apply decision-rights frameworks, use RACI-style responsibility mapping, and design governance workflows for business term approvals, data issue escalation, policy exceptions, and access decisions. Finally, you'll learn how to assess an organization's structure and governance challenges, diagnose common operating model breakdowns, and recommend the most appropriate approach for enterprise, domain, and local teams. When you're finished with this course, you'll have the data governance skills and knowledge needed to turn governance principles into repeatable decision-making practices that improve adoption, enhance decision quality, and support long-term sustainability.