Data Strategy – A Key Checklist for Digital Transformation

1) Business-IT Collaboration

Drive core business objectives and IT perspectives onto a single path, thus encouraging a business-led and technology-enabled approach internally and externally.

2) Spread Vision

Take forward the vision across the enterprise, bringing perfect alignment and consistency among teams, reducing operational costs, and optimizing performance.

3) Define key metrics and success path

Consistency positively impacts key metrics and lays the foundation for measuring, evaluating, and tracking initiatives across the process chain.

4) Technology investment planning

Investing in legacy technologies might not be appropriate for your new setup. At this point, a strategy considers the current state of your enterprise data environments and guides you accordingly on innovation and new technology investment.

Useful link: Digital Transformation: Avoid 8 Most Common Pitfalls

Creating an Effective Data Strategy

Implementing an Enterprise Data Strategy involves a stepwise approach. It begins with defining the scope and proceeds through planning and implementation.

Defining the scope for an effective data strategy involves:

• Assessment and review of the existing analytic capabilities
• Mapping data flow within the organization
• Reviewing capabilities of the existing data management program
• Documenting useful data requirements
• Identifying the best data management and business intelligence tools and solutions
• Developing a roadmap by defining initiatives in coordination with key stakeholders

Next comes the planning and implementation, where organizations will need to:

• Update the existing data management program through a well-planned approach
• Schedule a phase-wise implementation of the roadmap to meet the organizational needs to fit in the future program
• Bring in expertise to identify challenges to highlight and manage risk associated with the process
• Reach an agreement with the stakeholders on initiatives identified in the scope phase

On the opposite side, it’s equally important to consider the following factors that challenge the implementation of a comprehensive data strategy:

• Information access is key to planning an effective data strategy. A lack of access to information can lead to serious issues with data integrity.
• Data governance is another key factor, and a lack of it naturally leads to a lack of agility in delivering projects on time and accurately.
• Another problem is a lack of archiving strategy, which leads to data maintenance challenges and affects data retention and performance.
• Data storage is another critical aspect that obstructs organizational strengths to develop future capabilities.

Implementing the steps above and procedures eliminates the technical and functional gaps between the organization’s existing and future-state data management program through enterprise data management services.

On an EndNote, take up the data strategy mission to make your digital transformation strategy data-driven and unlock business growth and efficiency.