This document discusses governance strategies for enterprise taxonomies. It emphasizes that taxonomy governance needs coordination across business units, processes that are realistic and flexible, and an understanding that different types of changes require different governance approaches depending on their level of impact. Effective long-term governance requires tools, resources, and organizational support to allow taxonomies to evolve with business needs over time while working within existing systems and processes.

1. Pu#ng
the
Go
in
Governance
Gary
Carlson
gary@factorfirm.com
@gc_taxonomy,
@taxobc
2
November,
2015
factorfirm.com

2. factor?
• Factor
specializes
enterprise-­‐scale
informaHon
and
experience
challenges.
• We
have
outside
perspecHve
that
helps
you
gain
the
insight
necessary
to
break
through
organizaHonal
barriers.
• Our
evidence-­‐based
approach
allows
us
to
truly
understand
what
will
drive
your
success
-­‐and
help
you
get
there.
• Our
approach
is
to
understand
your
business
from
the
perspecHve
of
both
your
customers
and
your
staff.
• You
need
a
clear
vision
of
success
–
we
ensure
all
your
efforts
are
validated
by
research
and
focused
on
results.

3. Gary
Carlson
PRINCIPAL
Bringing
over
20
years
of
experience
as
a
taxonomist,
consultant,
and
informaHon
strategist
to
every
project,
Gary’s
current
focus
is
helping
companies
develop
their
informaHon
infrastructure
to
deliver
business
success
and
saHsfy
customer
goals.

4. Governance
Overview
A
few
random
musings
to
get
started

5. Lessons
from
Sammy
Hagar
I
Can’t
Drive
55
And
the
US
Department
of
Transporta3on
“Raising
speed
limits...has
an
extremely
beneficial
effect
on
drivers
complying
with
the
posted
speed
limits.”
“Lowering
speed
limits...provides
a
noncompliance
rate
of
approximately
67%.”
Quote
From
Effects
of
Raising
and
Lowering
Speed
Limits
U.S.
Department
of
TransportaHon
hcps://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-­‐irrel.html
Image
Source:
hcps://i.vimeocdn.com/video/93438962_640.jpg

6. Taxonomy
governance
needs
to
work
with
exisHng
processes
Do
every
thing
you
can
to
incorporate
governance
into
exisHng
processes.
Going
off
trail
is
messy
or
expensive
or
both.

7. Governance
needs
to
be
scaled
to
the
size
of
the
problem
Adding
synonyms
should
require
far
less
oversight
than
adding
a
new
L1
term
to
a
navigaHon
taxonomy
or
product
taxonomy.

8. Know
your
organizaHonal
readiness,
technical
capabiliHes,
and
resources
available
for
your
taxonomies

9. Why
Taxonomies
• Increase
the
number
of
customers
who
are
finding
and
purchasing
your
products
and
services.
• Connect
content,
publishing,
and
data
systems
to
opHmize
the
customer
experience
and
business
processes.
• Provide
informaHon
your
customers
truly
value,
across
your
channels,
in
a
way
they
can
use
really
use.
• Understand
and
implement
the
most
efficient
internal
processes
for
your
business.
• Increase
overall
staff
saHsfacHon
and
reduce
points
of
frustraHon
or
inefficiency.

10. What
does
this
mean?
• Taxonomies
need
to
adapt
to
new
requirements.
• Systems
and
integraHons
that
store
and
manage
taxonomies
must
stay
up
to
date.
• Content/informaHon
personalizaHon
requires
that
taxonomies
be
shared
across
mulHple
systems
and
workflows.
• Taxonomies
must
work
within
exisHng
workflows.
• People
using
and
managing
taxonomies
must
have
visibility
into
the
evoluHon
of
the
taxonomies.
• TesHng
is
an
essenHal
part
of
managing
taxonomies.

11. What
does
this
really
mean?

12. What
does
this
really
mean?
• Managing
and
improving
system-­‐wide
taxonomies
requires
coordinaHon
across
business
units
-­‐
People
need
to
talk
to
each
other
-­‐
Processes
need
to
be
realisHc
and
flexible
• Not
all
changes
are
equal
-­‐
Different
types
of
changes
require
different
types
of
governance
-­‐
Level
of
effort
for
change
=
level
of
impact
• Taxonomies
need
to
reflect
business
needs
over
Hme
-­‐
Know
your
business
goals
-­‐
Taxonomy
maintenance
is
forever

13. Enterprise
Taxonomy?
• All
taxonomies
require
maintenance.
• This
presentaHon
is
primarily
about
enterprise
taxonomies.
• An
enterprise
taxonomy
is
one
that
spans
mulHple
systems,
interfaces,
business
units,
user
profiles,
etc.

14. Long
term
viability
and
sustainability
of
enterprise
taxonomies
is
dependent
on
governance,
tools,
resources,
and
organizaHonal
support.
These
things
are
7ghtly
connected.

15. Approaches
to
Governance

16. This
is
what
we
usually
think
...
AcribuHon
-­‐
By
Daderot
(Own
work)
[Public
domain],
via
Wikimedia
Commons
hcps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AOblique_facade_1%2C_US_Supreme_Court.jpg

17. This
is
what
we
usually
do
...

18. This
is
good
governance

19. Five
Goals
of
Taxonomy
Governance
1-­‐
Allow
for
management
and
evoluHon
of
taxonomies.
2-­‐
Support
organizaHonal
goals.
3-­‐
Work
with
exisHng
workflows
/
realiHes.
4-­‐
Provide
transparency.
5-­‐
Don’t
break
anything.

20. Why
do
we
need
to
manage
and
evolve
taxonomies?
Respond
to
user
needs
Business
needs
-­‐ New
products
-­‐ New
or
updated
systems
-­‐ New
or
updated
workflows
-­‐ Expanded
publicaHon
channels
-­‐ Regulatory
changes
-­‐ Improved
operaHonal
efficiency
General
maintenance

21. Organiza7onal
Goals?
• Omni
channel
publishing
• Search
and
findability
• Compliance
and
regulaHons
• Content
re-­‐use
• Improve
operaHonal
efficiency
Organiza8onal
goals
should
be
driving
the
en8re
taxonomy
project.
Governance
needs
to
align
with
these
as
well.

22. Workflows,
really?
Governance
needs
incorporate
exisHng
workflows
as
much
as
possible.
Governance
processes
need
to
reflect
organizaHonal
realiHes.
-­‐ Taxonomists
don’t
always
get
to
call
the
shots
-­‐ Taxonomy
models
may
need
to
be
adjusted
to
address
governance
needs

23. Transparency?
Transparent
governance
goals
and
processes.
-­‐ Help
people
see
the
“why”
as
much
as
the
“what”
Understand
and
account
for
all
the
different
types
of
changes.
-­‐ One
“suggesHon
box”
is
not
going
to
work
Expose
the
process
-­‐ Roles
-­‐ Timeframe
-­‐ Decision
criteria

24. Don’t
Break
Anything
• Systems
• IntegraHons
• UI/UX
• AnalyHcs
or
reports
• Compliance

25. Things
Needing
Governance
Taxonomy
terms
Taxonomy
definiHons
Taxonomy
structure
Taxonomy
acributes
RelaHonships
between
terms
Types
of
relaHonships
ProperHes
of
relaHonships
IntegraHons
Systems
Acributes
Content
Types
Add
/
Modify
/
Delete
Archive
NoHficaHons
Guidelines
Inputs
for
change
Stakeholders
Timeframe
Ac7ons
and
Inputs

26. Checklists
For
each
object
and
type
of
change
that
needs
to
be
governed
-­‐ Types
of
acHons
that
need
oversight
-­‐ Add,
delete,
modify,
archive,
etc
-­‐ PotenHal
impacts
to
assess
and
account
for
-­‐ Systems,
integraHons,
reports,
etc
-­‐ Roles
involved
-­‐ Who
needs
to
be
weigh
in
on
the
decision,
who
needs
to
be
noHfied

27. Sample
–
Ac7ons
Governance
Process
Descrip7on
Name
Name
of
the
governance
acHon
DescripHon
Business
descripHon
of
the
desired
change
System
Profiles
List
of
systems
or
profiles
impacted
by
the
change
Frequency
How
oven
are
the
updates
made
Objects
called
Object
being
acted
on
AcHons
Full
descripHon
of
the
acHons
being
taken
ValidaHon
Processes
What
validaHon
or
tesHng
processes
are
necessary,
if
any
NoHficaHons
Who
needs
to
be
noHfied
before,
during,
or
aver
the
change

28. Sample
–
Roles
Role
Descrip7on/Example
Responsibili7es
Governance
Steering
Commicee
Consists
of
representaHves
from
all
major
roles.
Defines
governance
processes,
sets
overall
direcHon
of
governance
and
assesses
its
performance
Taxonomy
Governance
Manager
Receives
change
requests
and
manages
governance
for
those
where
appropriate.
Performs
day
to
day
acHviHes
associated
with
governance
processes.
Content
Owners
Responsible
for
escalaHng
changes
idenHfied
within
their
sphere
of
effort,
reviewing
impacts,
and
working
with
the
Governance
Manager
to
communicate
these.
Taxonomy
Owners
and
Stakeholders
These
are
a
special
subset
of
stakeholders
responsible
for
detailed
knowledge
of
the
taxonomy
model
and
how
it
is
used
across
an
organizaHon.
Stakeholders
Stakeholders
who
may
not
be
directly
engaged
in
taxonomy
creaHon
and
management,
but
where
visibility
into
the
taxonomy
might
impact
their
work

29. Example
1
-­‐
Transparency
Problem
–
a
mid
sized
city
department
was
having
difficulty
maintaining
a
consistent
taxonomy
used
for
content
tagging.
This
was
part
of
a
larger
problem
that
involved
the
content
creaHon
process
in
general.
Result
–
Increase
in
changes
going
through
standard
governance
workflows
along
with
increased
saHsfacHon
in
the
overall
process.

30. Example
1
-­‐
Transparency
Role
of
Taxonomy
Governance
–
In
alignment
with
the
general
content
governance
processes
the
taxonomy
process
was
well
documented
and
made
readily
accessible
to
all
stakeholders.
This
included:
-­‐ Types
of
changes
-­‐ Timeframe
for
change
-­‐ General
overview
of
the
process
-­‐ Roles/stakeholders
involved

31. Example
2
–
A
Flexible
Enterprise
Taxonomy
Problem
–
Microsov
had
strong
requirements
for
a
centralized
taxonomy
to
support
enterprise
goals,
but
very
licle
control
over
different
business
units.
Result
–
Created
a
governance
model
and
taxonomy
model
that
allowed
individual
business
units
to
adapt
the
enterprise
taxonomy
to
their
own
needs
with
licle
impact
on
their
exisHng
workflows
or
processes.
The
governance
process
for
the
local
taxonomies
was
streamlined,
non-­‐invasive,
and
simple.
The
governance
process
for
the
enterprise
taxonomy
happened
outside
the
processes
of
the
business
units
and
was
much
more
rigorous.

32. Example
2
–
A
Flexible
Enterprise
Taxonomy
Approach
–
Using
SharePoint
and
a
few
basic
reports
run
against
the
term
store
we
designed
a
taxonomy
model
that
included
a
definiHve
set
of
taxonomies
managed
by
dedicated
taxonomists
to
support
the
enterprise
goals.
The
model
also
allowed
for
individual
groups
to
uHlize
subsets
of
the
taxonomies
and
create
their
own
addiHons
to
the
subsets.
The
enterprise
taxonomist
received
a
report
with
any
addiHon
to
“local”
taxonomies.
New
terms
were
either
added
to
the
corporate
taxonomy,
lev
as
local
terms,
or
merged
with
exisHng
terms.
For
a
full
descripHon
of
this
case
study
see:
hcp://goo.gl/DlwbWN

33. Example
3
–
I
Can’t
Drive
55...
Problem
–
Taxonomy
was
a
new
discipline
for
an
organizaHon
that
considered
itself
to
be
nimble
with
few
pesky
processes.
This
lead
to
very
inefficient
content
management,
content
duplicaHon,
and
poor
communicaHon
with
customers.
A
taxonomy
governance
project
was
not
going
to
change
corporate
culture.
Result
–
Compliance
was
improved
by
creaHng
processes
which
directly
aligned
with
the
exisHng
workflows
and
corporate
culture.

34. Example
3
–
I
Can’t
Drive
55...
Approach
–
-­‐ Keep
the
taxonomies
extremely
simple.
-­‐ Do
not
allow
end
users
to
modify
the
taxonomies
but
allow
then
to
add
keywords
(which
were
then
assessed
by
the
taxonomist).
-­‐ Provide
tool
Hps
whenever
possible
for
terms.
-­‐ Create
simple
and
usable
reports
for
the
taxonomists.

35. Where
is
your
organiza7on?
Assessing
organizaHonal
readiness
is
an
essenHal
part
of
a
comprehensive
taxonomy
roadmap.
Understanding
where
you
are
today
idenHfies
what
you
can
do
today.
Building
and
managing
the
taxonomy
is
rarely
the
issue.

36. QuesHons?!?!?!
gary@factorfirm.com
http://factorfirm.com
@factorfirm
@gc_taxonomy
design
and
modeling
of
informaHon
and
experiences