Advanced Business Intelligence Governance and Metadata Training Course

Course overview

Business intelligence programmes lose trust when reports use conflicting definitions, semantic models are changed without ownership, lineage cannot be traced, and sensitive data reaches the wrong audience. These problems are rarely solved by adding another dashboard or data catalogue licence. They require a workable governance model: accountable roles, controlled metadata, agreed business terms, measurable data-quality rules and decision rights that fit the organisation’s BI delivery process.

This advanced course shows participants how to design and operate BI governance across data products, reports, dashboards and semantic models. Participants define governance operating models; build business glossaries and data dictionaries; document end-to-end lineage; assign data owners, stewards and custodians; establish certification and change-control workflows; and specify quality, security and usage controls. The course uses Microsoft Purview, Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud and Power BI examples alongside DAMA-DMBOK2 governance principles, translating each concept into practical governance artefacts.

Teaching combines instructor-led analysis, tool-led demonstrations, structured workshops and a realistic enterprise BI case involving inconsistent KPIs, unmanaged self-service reporting and regulatory data concerns. Participants work in governance design teams and leave with a completed BI Governance Implementation Pack: a target operating model, RACI matrix, glossary structure, metadata standards, certification workflow, lineage approach, KPI scorecard and 90-day rollout plan. This gives attendees a defensible starting point for improving trust and control in their own BI estate.

The course is best suited to experienced BI, data governance and analytics professionals who already work with reporting platforms or enterprise data assets and now need to govern them at scale. It is equally valuable for managers approving governance investment because it connects stewardship activity to report reliability, auditability, adoption and reduced rework.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Design a BI governance operating model with decision rights, escalation paths and governance forums
• Create a RACI matrix that assigns accountable owners, data stewards, custodians and report owners
• Build a controlled business glossary and data dictionary for shared KPIs, dimensions and measures
• Document end-to-end metadata lineage from source data through semantic models to Power BI reports
• Configure a report certification and change-control workflow using defined approval evidence and status criteria
• Define data-quality rules, thresholds and issue-management procedures for critical BI data elements
• Map role-based access, sensitivity labels and retention requirements to BI datasets and dashboards
• Produce a phased BI governance implementation roadmap with adoption metrics and control KPIs

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• BI Managers — who must make self-service analytics reliable without creating delivery bottlenecks
• Data Governance Managers — who need to extend stewardship, policy and control frameworks into BI assets
• Analytics Architects — who design semantic models, data products and reporting platforms requiring clear ownership
• BI Developers and Power BI Leads — who need consistent definitions, certification rules and governed release practices
• Data Stewards — who curate business metadata and resolve quality issues affecting reports and dashboards
• Data and Analytics Directors — who need an accountable governance model that supports trusted enterprise decisions

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience working with BI reports, dashboards, datasets or semantic models and understand concepts including KPIs, dimensions, measures, source systems, data quality and role-based access. Familiarity with Power BI or another enterprise BI platform is expected; attendees should be able to interpret a data model and discuss the lifecycle of a report from source to publication. Prior exposure to a data catalogue, Microsoft Purview or Collibra is helpful but not required. This is not a course in building visualisations, SQL programming or introductory data governance, and no coding is required.

Training methodology

The instructor uses short, expert-led briefings to establish governance methods, followed by guided analysis of an enterprise BI scenario. Participants inspect sample metadata, reconcile conflicting KPI definitions, map lineage, design roles and test approval decisions against realistic reporting requests. Tool demonstrations use Microsoft Purview, Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud and Power BI examples to show how governance artefacts are operationalised. Daily team workshops add sections to a single implementation pack, and the final session includes peer review and a practical 90-day application plan.

Course outline

Day 1: BI governance operating model and accountability

• BI governance scope across data products, semantic models, reports and dashboards
• DAMA-DMBOK2 principles applied to analytics and reporting environments
• Governance maturity assessment for centralised and federated BI teams
• Decision rights for KPI definitions, publishing, access and lifecycle changes
• Data owner, data steward, custodian and report owner accountability models
• Governance councils, working groups and escalation routes
• RACI matrix construction for a critical BI domain

Workshop: Participants assess a case organisation’s BI governance gaps and produce a target operating model with a draft RACI matrix.

Day 2: Business metadata, glossary and semantic consistency

• Business glossary design for enterprise KPIs and reporting terms
• Data dictionary fields for measures, dimensions, calculations and source attributes
• Critical data element selection and metadata ownership
• KPI definition templates including formula, grain, filters and intended use
• Semantic model documentation in Power BI
• Metadata harvesting and discovery concepts in Microsoft Purview
• Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud glossary workflow patterns

Workshop: Participants reconcile conflicting revenue and customer definitions and create approved glossary and data dictionary entries.

Day 3: Lineage, quality and controlled BI delivery

• Technical, business and operational lineage distinctions
• Source-to-report lineage mapping for a Power BI reporting chain
• Lineage evidence, confidence levels and documentation standards
• Data-quality dimensions for BI reporting and analytical use
• Quality rule specification, thresholds and exception handling
• Issue logging, root-cause analysis and remediation ownership
• Change impact analysis for source, metric and semantic model changes

Workshop: Participants map lineage for a regulated management dashboard and define quality rules and an issue-resolution workflow.

Day 4: Security, certification and self-service controls

• Data classification and sensitivity labels for BI assets
• Role-based access principles for datasets, workspaces and dashboards
• Row-level security governance and access-review responsibilities
• Report endorsement, certification and deprecation criteria
• Evidence-based approval workflows for governed BI content
• Self-service publishing guardrails and exception processes
• Metadata control points across the BI asset lifecycle

Workshop: Participants design a certification and access-governance workflow for a self-service Power BI environment.

Day 5: Measurement, adoption and governance implementation

• Governance KPI design for metadata completeness, quality, adoption and control effectiveness
• BI asset inventory and prioritisation methods
• Stakeholder mapping and governance communications planning
• Phased rollout sequencing for glossary, lineage and certification controls
• Operating procedures for stewardship reviews and governance councils
• Risk register development for BI governance implementation
• Ninety-day roadmap and executive business case construction

Workshop: Participants assemble, peer-review and present their BI Governance Implementation Pack and 90-day rollout roadmap.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Purview, Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud, Microsoft Power BI, DAMA-DMBOK2

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions