A successful risk management strategy requires a strong internal control environment. The risk control matrix (RCM) format emphasizes that strong and risk-oriented internal control environments are often optimized with automated/manual controls, depending on the situation.

An RCM provides an overview of different control objectives that organizations should take into consideration and the corresponding controls to safeguard the company against risks, which may arise if not checked timely. Once customized to an organization, this document can help the user in assessing each control. The control assessment can then also be summarized to develop an action plan.

This document outlines risks and controls common to reference and master data management during the 4.4.1 Manage Data Center Operations process in a risk control matrix (RCM) format.

Sample risks include:

• Standards are identified incorrectly, and relevant rules are not specified. Metadata elements are not grouped under the correct schemes.
• Information is extracted from very limited sources, and architecture design doesn’t support the needs of the organization.
• Integration is semantic, and manual updates are not supported.
• Single access points are lacking.
• Understanding is lacking, and the scope is not well-defined.
• Education to users is lacking, and clear delineation for business and technical users does not exist.
• Data governance organization does not exist, and confidence among business users is lacking.
• Flow for technical users is lacking.
• Metadata is not appropriately maintained, resulting in low-quality, inconsistent metadata that cannot be relied upon.

This document can be used as a sample RCM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list of risks and controls. The KnowledgeLeader team will periodically update this RCM with new content. Organizations should select, update and modify the risks and controls included in this document to ensure that it reflects business operations.