Governance and Lifecycle Management for Power BI

Do you work with Qlik, Power BI or another BI platform? Then you know that dashboards, apps and user administrators are crucial for decision-making. But without proper governance and lifecycle management, things can quickly get out of hand.

We often see the same problems in Dutch organizations:

Oops… wrong version put live on production.
No one knows who has access to which dashboard.
Unexplained data changes without logging.
OTAP environments where acceptance and production are intermingled.

These are not just operational risks – they also touch directly on compliance (think ISO 27001 and NEN 7510) and business continuity.

Preventing Oversharing in Microsoft 365

What is Governance and Lifecycle Management?

Governance means keeping a grip on your data, access rights, changes and documentation.
Lifecycle Management is about managing the full lifecycle of dashboards and apps – from development to phase-out – according to set processes.

In the Dutch context, this means:

AVG/GDPR compliance: knowing who has access to personal data.
ISO 27001/NEN 7510 compliance: controlled rollout processes.
OTAP separation: clear separation between Development, Test, Acceptance and Production.
Logging & auditing: insight into who changed what and when.

The biggest challenges according to the market

In our recent poll, the majority indicated that permissions & access are the biggest challenge, followed by logging & auditing and version control & OTAP.

This confirms what we see in practice: without a central governance structure, blind spots quickly arise, with all the risks that entails.

ALTA-ICT approach to Power BI governance

At ALTA-ICT, we provide:
✅ ISO 27001/NEN 7510 certified governance structures
✅ Measurable control: complete overview of rights, versions and OTAP environments
✅ Dutch compliance specialization (AVG, sector guidelines)
✅ Clear dashboards and audits that are directly usable in audits

We implement governance not just as a technical solution, but as an ongoing process that grows with your organization.

ROI of good governance

Less errors in deployment and version control → less downtime
Faster audits thanks to complete logging
Higher data quality → better decision-making
Lower compliance costs through reusable audits and reports

Conclusion

A well-established governance and lifecycle management structure for Power BI and other BI platforms is not a luxury – it is a requirement for reliability, compliance and continuity.

💡 Want to know where your organization stands now
📞 Schedule a free governance scan with our Dutch experts today: alta-ict.nl/contact