Knowledge is King (KIK)
KIK stands for “Knowledge is King”. Consultative mentoring and transferring best practices knowledge are the focuses of KIK Consulting & Educational Services. KIK and Robert S. Seiner provide practical, pragmatic, and cost-effective consulting, mentoring, and education in the disciplines of data governance, data stewardship, data management, and metadata management.
Our Story
Bob Seiner has been working in the field of data governance as long as anybody in the industry. Seiner was once referred to as the “Grandfather of Data Governance” but he refuses that label as he believes that the field is still emerging and he is not old enough to be a grandfather (yet!). Seiner’s thought-process around data management, metadata management, and data governance has evolved as his career has taken him from one of the largest steel manufacturers in the United States to a small medical office software company, to one of the largest health insurance companies in the country, to a small boutique consulting firm, ultimately becoming acquired by a larger consulting company, and eventually to the founding of KIK Consulting & Educational Services (“KIK Consulting”) in 2002.
KIK stands for “Knowledge is King”. KIK Consulting focuses on the transfer of best practice knowledge to our clients through 1) consulting engagements where KIK delivers the core components of successful data governance, metadata, and data management solutions and 2) consultative mentoring efforts where their client acquire a number of hours over a described period of time. Seiner refers to this as “just in time” consulting. Mentoring is one of our specialties. We aim to leave our clients better than we found them in terms of their ability to sustain their programs over long periods of time.
KIK Consulting has provided quality consulting and mentoring services for organizations in many industries including (but not limited to) finance, insurance, manufacturing, distribution, energy, telecommunications, education, and a significant number of government organizations. KIK has worked with numerous international clients of all sizes in many industries. The strength of KIK Consulting is the ability to share our best practice experience and adjust that experience to match the organization type, size, and focus.
KIK Consulting added the words “Educational Services” to our company name early on (more than 15 years ago) as this aspect of the services we provide expanded into the public, private, electronic, and virtual spaces. KIK Consulting is repeatedly asked to present at industry conferences, user groups, vendor events, and top universities and organizations around the globe. KIK Consulting works with our partners to provide an industry-leading and 10-year running webinar series (Real-World Data Governance through Dataversity), online learning plans (also through Dataversity), webinars for hire, and white papers and blog series that are focused on educating the industry and our clients with current approaches and solutions focused on data governance, metadata governance, and data management. Thus the name KIK Consulting & Educational Services truly describes what we do and how we do it.
Services
Consulting
KIK Consulting’s consulting services are structured to meet our client’s requirements. From conducting an early assessment and delivering a custom roadmap for delivery of a Non-Invasive Data Governance and/or Metadata Management program, to assessing an existing program and recommending ways to improve on value delivery, to providing all of the core components of successful programs, and everything in-between – the consulting services we provide are tailored to each client’s specific requirements and interests.
Reach out to KIK Consulting through the Contact Page to request a meeting to discuss how we may assist your organization with Consulting solutions.
Consultative Mentoring
Consultative Mentoring is KIK Consulting’s approach to consulting and mentoring with an emphasis on knowledge transfer. A typical consulting engagement for KIK Consulting is not a long series of contiguous on-site days. Rather, Consultative Mentoring focuses on transferring best practice knowledge, tools, and templates, know-how to the client with the intent of leaving the client self-sufficient in a short period of time. This approach to consulting and education through on-site and remote mentoring is less expensive and less intrusive for the client while assuring the delivery of a best practice and sustainable Non-Invasive Data Governance™ and Metadata Management programs.
Reach out to KIK Consulting through the Contact Page to request a meeting to discuss how we may assist your organization with Consultative Mentoring solutions.
Education
KIK Consulting provides educational service through public and private classes and training that focus on Non-Invasive Data Governance, metadata management, the use of glossaries, dictionaries and catalogs, data and metadata stewardship, and data management. KIK Consulting has developed courses and courseware that can be used to deliver onsite and remote learning in an efficient and cost-effective manner. KIK Consulting will be happy to develop an educational program to match your interests and direct it toward your specific audiences.
Reach out to KIK Consulting through the Contact Page to request a meeting to discuss how we may assist your organization with Educational solutions.
Non-Invasive Data Governance (NIDG)
What is NIDG?
Non-Invasive Data Governance (NIDG) is the least threatening and most effective approach to implementing a formal data governance program. NIDG is practiced by organizations of all sizes in all industries around the world with a tremendous level of success. The core tenet of NIDG is that organizations already have a level of governance taking place although their present actions are informal and often inefficient and ineffective. NIDG focuses on formalizing governance by taking advantage of existing levels of accountability while addressing the requirements of the organization to govern their data.
How NIDG is Different
There are three approaches to data governance. The command-and-control approach is the most invasive and directs people to govern data by assigning people responsibility that immediately feels over-and-above existing job responsibilities. The traditional approach is to deliver a formal program and hope that people identify with, and gravitate toward, the appropriate actions required to govern data. The non-invasive approach focuses on recognizing the present responsibilities people have with data and providing the tools and techniques necessary for people to improve the ways they govern the data.
How Do You Apply NIDG?
NIDG is applied by formally recognizing the people that are responsible for defining, producing, and using data across the organization and enabling them to build and follow consistent practices associated with improving the confidence the organization has in its data quality and understanding, protection, and handling of strategic and sensitive data.
Non-Invasive Metadata Governance (NIMG)
What is Non-Invasive Metadata Governance?
Non-Invasive Metadata Governance is the pragmatic approach to managing metadata as a valued enterprise asset. NIMG is based on three basic premises: 1) the metadata will not govern itself, 2) formal governance is necessary to deliver value, and 3) engaging metadata stewards in a less threatening manner is necessary to formalize accountability for data documentation. NIMG views metadata as a long-term asset that requires planning to deliver appropriate information to affected data definers, producers, and users with an immediate focus on demonstrating value while looking ahead to the potential acquisition or development of data catalogs, business glossaries, and data dictionaries.
How NIMG is Different
NIMG focuses on improving existing levels of the data documentation while maximizing the value of the investments being made in becoming data-centric and data-driven. Improving analytical capabilities, leveraging data science to innovate in leveraging their data, and protecting sensitive data assets to manage risk are three benefits of taking the NIMG approach. Inquire about how the non-invasive approach to managing metadata echoes the benefits that are found in the NIDG approach.
Applying NIMG
NIMG is applied by formally recognizing the people that are responsible for defining, producing, and using metadata across the organization and enabling them to build and follow consistent practices associated with improving how governance is applied to improving metadata quality, availability, and usefulness.