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:

• Reference and master data integration needs are not understood, resulting in inconsistent, duplicate or low-quality data being used across the organization.
• Upstream data sources and downstream data needs are not considered, resulting in duplicate or inconsistent data being used.
• Local reference and master data management occurs in application silos, resulting in redundant and inconsistent data.
• Data matching rules are not appropriately defined, resulting in incorrect and inconsistent data.

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.