Assign ownership to domains - Precisely Data Integrity Suite

Data Integrity Suite
Product
Spatial_Analytics
Data_Integration
Data_Enrichment
Data_Governance
Precisely_Data_Integrity_Suite
geo_addressing_1
Data_Observability
Data_Quality
dis_core_foundation
Services
Spatial Analytics
Data Integration
Data Enrichment
Data Governance
Geo Addressing
Data Observability
Data Quality
Core Foundation
ft:title
Data Integrity Suite
ft:locale
en-US
PublicationType
pt_product_guide
copyrightfirst
2000
copyrightlast
2026

Domain ownership enables you to assign and manage accountability for data domains within your organization. You can add owners to domains when creating a new domain. When you update ownership on a domain, the changes automatically propagate to child domains and related assets unless they have local overrides.

Ownership types enable you to assign multiple owners to a domain, each with a distinct role and responsibility. By using different ownership types, you ensure that different types of requests and issues are routed to the appropriate person or team.

Default ownership types available are:

  • Data Owner
  • Data Steward
  • Technical Owner
  • Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Note: You can also create custom ownership types that allow you to define role-specific ownership tailored to your organization's governance structure. Once created, custom ownership types are available for selection when assigning owners to domains.

Key concepts of domain ownership

Understanding the following concepts helps you effectively manage domain ownership:

Term Definition
Domain A logical grouping of related data assets that represents a stable business capability. Domains are the primary level at which ownership is assigned.
Child domain A child domain within a domain hierarchy. Child domains inherit ownership from their parent domain but can also have locally assigned owners.
Domain owner A user or group assigned responsibility for a domain. Owners can have different responsibilities such as Data Steward, Sponsor, or Procurement Specialist.
Ownership type A classification that defines the role or responsibility of an owner (for example, Data Steward, Sponsor, or Procurement Specialist). Ownership types help distinguish different types of accountability within a domain.
Ownership inheritance The automatic propagation of domain ownership to child domains and related assets. Child domains inherit owners from their parent domain unless overridden by local assignments.
Ownership propagation The cascading of domain ownership down the domain hierarchy and to one asset type level (such as Business Terms). Ownership does not propagate beyond the first related asset type.

Add domain ownership

  1. Go to Governance > Domains.
  2. Click a domain name to open its Details page.
  3. In the Ownership type panel, click Add Owners to assign ownership.
  4. In the Add Owners to Domain panel, select an ownership type from the Ownership Types dropdown list.
  5. If the ownership type you need does not exist, you can create it inline using the following steps:
    1. Click Create/Add custom Ownership Type. The Create Custom Ownership Type dialog opens.
    2. Enter a name for the ownership type in the Ownership Type Name field.
    3. Optionally, enter a description in the Description (Optional) field to provide additional context about the ownership type's purpose and responsibilities.
    4. Click Create to save the custom ownership type.
    5. After creation, the custom ownership type immediately appears in the Ownership Types dropdown list and is available to all users in your workspace.
    6. Select the newly created ownership type from the Ownership Types dropdown list. The ownership type dropdown also provides the following actions:
      • When the Ownership Type is used in a domain, you cannot delete it. This prevents accidental removal of critical ownership assignments.
      • When the Ownership Type is not used, you can edit or delete it to maintain a clean list of available ownership types.
      • In the dropdown, click the info icon next to the ownership type you want to modify. The fields to edit or delete the type will open in the same dialog.
      • To edit, update the name or description as needed and click Update to save your changes.
      • To delete an ownership type, click Delete Ownership Type.
    Warning: If the ownership type is currently applied to one or more domains, a message appears stating "Cannot delete ownership type- it is referenced by existing ownership policies" with the number of domains using it. To proceed with deletion, you must first remove this ownership type from all domains where it is applied from the domain Details page. Return to the ownership types list and perform the above steps to delete it.
  6. Select the owner from the Users and Groups list by clicking the checkbox next to their name.
    You can search for users or groups by name or email address using the search field. Groups are identified with a "Group Name" designation and display a member count. Click a group name to view its members and their email addresses.
  7. Click Add to add the selected owner with the specified ownership type to the domain.
    Tip: You can assign multiple owners to a single domain, each with different ownership types. For example, you might assign both a Data Steward and a Sponsor to the same domain. You can also assign the same user or group with multiple ownership types. Repeat steps 4 to 6 to add additional owners as needed.
After adding domain owners:
  • Ownership changes are immediately reflected in the domain details.
  • Related assets receive updated ownership information.
  • Child domains inherit ownership from their parent domain, including both the owner and the ownership type.
  • The audit trail displays all ownership changes, including who made the change, when it was made, and what was changed. Open a domain's Details page and go to Change History tab to view the ownership audit trail.

Manage domain ownership

You can view and modify domain ownership assignments at any time to reflect organizational changes, personnel transitions, or shifts in accountability. When you update ownership on a domain, the changes automatically propagate to child domains and related assets unless they have local overrides.

To view, edit or remove owners for a domain:

  1. Go to Governance > Domains and select the domain from the list.
  2. Access the domain details by selecting Open from the domain's information panel or by clicking the domain name directly.
  3. Go to the Details tab to view the Ownership section with all assigned owners and their ownership types.
  4. Use the following options to view ownership details:
    • Select an owner's name to view detailed information including their roles, email address, phone number, employee number, department, organization, and division.
    • For group owners (identified with a "Group" designation), select the group name to view the list of group members and their email addresses.
      Note: To view group owners, you must be a member of the Workspace Managers user group.
    • View the Owners column in the domain list to see the first owner's name and a count of additional owners.
    • For child domains, view inherited owners separately from locally assigned owners to understand the full ownership chain.
  5. Review the updated ownership assignments to confirm all changes have been applied correctly.
  6. Click Save to apply the changes.
    Note: When you save ownership changes to a domain, all child domains automatically inherit the new ownership assignments. Child domains with local overrides retain their local owners in addition to the inherited owners.
  7. Once changes are saved, you can perform following actions:
    • To edit ownership, click Edit on the main domain page. You can then modify the ownership assignments by adding new owners and removing old ones as needed.
    • To remove an owner, click Remove option next to the owner's name on the Edit Domain page.
    • To add a new owner, click Add Owners, select an ownership type and owner, then click Add.
    • To change an owner's ownership type, click the responsibility type dropdown and select a different type.
  8. Verify the ownership changes have been successfully applied to the domain and any child domains. The domain ownership is updated with your changes.

Ownership display order across sources

When an asset has ownership entries from multiple sources, the platform displays them in a deterministic order. Ownership entries are additive across sources and are not overridden between direct, rule-based, and domain-based assignments. Deterministic ordering improves traceability during ownership review and troubleshooting.

Ownership sources are displayed in the following order:

  1. Manual or Direct assignment: Ownership entries assigned directly to an individual asset are listed first.
  2. Rule-based assignment: Ownership entries generated by an ownership rule are listed next. For more information, see Create an ownership rule.
  3. Domain-based assignment: Ownership entries inherited from the asset's associated domain are listed last.

Customize child domain ownership

Child domains inherit ownership from their parent domain, including both the owner and the ownership type. You can customize this inherited ownership by adding local owners or modifying inherited assignments without affecting the parent domain. For example, if a parent domain has a Data Steward owner, all child domains automatically inherit that Data Steward owner with the same ownership type.
  1. Go to Governance > Domains and locate the child domain in the hierarchical domain list.
  2. Click the child domain name to open the domain details panel.
  3. Click the Edit button to enter edit mode.
  4. In the Owners section, review the owners table. The Inherited From column shows whether each owner is inherited from the parent domain or assigned locally to the child domain.
    Note: You can turn on the Inherited From toggle to remove inherited owners from the child domain. Only locally assigned owners are displayed for the child domain. Turn it off to restore the inherited owners.
  5. To remove an inherited owner, click the remove icon next to the owner you want to remove.
  6. To add a new owner, click the Add Owners button.
  7. Select the appropriate Ownership Type for the new owner from the dropdown menu (for example, Data Steward).
  8. Select the user or group you want to assign.
  9. Click Save to apply the changes.

    The ownership changes are now applied to the child domain only. The parent domain's ownership assignments remain unchanged.