EXPERT SPEAK
Six survival
strategies for Chief
Digital Officers
Gartner’s Valerie Logan spells out six key initiatives that Chief
Digital Officers must play out to ride the winds of success.
looks like in practice, a mission statement
of what the organisation does, and a
narrative that makes data and analytics
real for those who do not necessarily
have a data management or quantitative
background. Often part of a data and
analytics business case, the charter should
outline practical business outcomes that
clarify intent, scope and focus. Lead by
example, and with examples.
2. Bimodal approach
Valerie Logan is Research Director at Gartner.
I
n the rapidly emerging arena of
data and analytics, the role of the
Chief Data Officer can be one of the
most challenging positions within an
organisation. A successful Chief Data
Officer requires the skills of a seasoned
high-wire performer: the ability to remain
consistently stable and agile.
Like high-wire artists, high-performing
data and analytics leaders must keep
balanced, all the while serving multiple
stakeholders, adapting to constant
business winds of change and staying
current on innovation.
Gartner has developed six-key survive
and thrive strategies that should help
Chief Data Officers balance the growing
demands of data and analytics.
1. Communicate the charter
A clear charter includes a simplified
vision of what a data-driven organisation
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Designed to address this classic balancing
act, Gartner defines a bimodal approach
as the practice of managing two separate,
coherent modes of IT delivery, one focused
on stability and the other on agility.
Deliberate management of resources and
capacity to serve classic and emerging
requirements are vital to a state of balance
within a bimodal environment. Team
structure should be regularly revisited to
support growth and maintenance agendas.
3. Strategy, roadmap, critical path
For organisations maturing from a
business intelligence to an analytics
focus, modernising the current business
intelligence strategy and roadmap will
support the advancement of analytics
and data science capabilities. Alignment
with the respective information
management strategy and roadmap is
also vital for an integrated plan that
closely monitors interdependencies
across critical infrastructure initiatives,
especially as architectures shift from
classic data warehousing to more logical,
virtualised environments.
4. Quarterly review
The strategy, roadmap and critical path
should be reviewed with key stakeholders
every quarter. Conducting a regular
inventory update maximises resources
across the community, while updating the
inventory with the same frequency captures
the new data sources, use cases, algorithms
and tools employed across the community.
5. Centre of analytics
The Chief Data Officer should become the
centre of gravity for data and analytics
endeavours, whether that is by solving the
problems within the immediate team, or
by being aware of and broadcasting what
is occurring across the data and analytics
community. This includes endorsing and
facilitating a self-service environment
for a widening set of analysts and data
scientists across the business, which will
broaden impact and lessen the load on
the core team.
6. Form alliances
If certain data management, infrastructure
or analytics coverage areas are not within
the Chief Data Officer’s direct charter or
remit, then the close interlock with IT
and other leaders across the business
is crucial. The success of any data and
analytics initiative depends on the quality,
understanding and agility of the data.
This becomes particularly critical as the
analytics charter starts to require and
accommodate a wider ecosystem of data,
much of which will be sourced externally
from emerging data brokers, social data
sources and open data sources.
Chief Data Officers need to be prepared
to traverse the high wire of their roles with
a ready set of tactics to counterbalance the
daily winds of change blowing through the
business. Coaching and supporting this
set of professionals through daily survival
strategies, along with savvy change
management tactics, are key to growing
the next generation of impactful digital
business professionals.
Issue 12
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS