Why CIO’s Have A Big Stake In Data Success
I was recently thumbing through a new book that I was reading, titled The Quiet Americans by author Scott Anderson, about the origins of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It was then that I came across an interesting item. Anderson noted that the original title of what is now known as the CIA director was once referred to as the “Coordinator ofInformation.” How quaint a title, and perhaps ironic, given the trajectory and elevated status that data has attained in recent decades.
This also brought to mind a refrain which I heard frequently a decade ago. but hear less often these days. Namely, why do we need a Chief Data Officer if we already have a Chief Information Officer (CIO)? The implication of course is why would be need a head of data if we already have a head of information. Aren’t data and information synonymous? What is the distinction that warrants a new role to focus on data if information is already effectively managed? Why the need for yet another executive function? Hasn’t the c-suite already become overcrowded?
All of this of course harkens back to the emergence of the Chief Data Officer role, and its subsequent evolution over the course of the ensuing decade. Much of the discussion has focused on where this role should report in the management hierarchy. What should be the optimal organizational mandate and purview of responsibility? Accordingly, many organizations situated the CDO role within the Chief Information Officer function, where for many firms it remains. Perhaps the operating assumption is that data represents a subset or sub-function of information or information management.
Not surprisingly, there continues to be a widespread lack of consensus about where the Chief Data Officer function should reside. Some organizations have concluded that the CDO should report to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), while others have opted for having the function report to the Chief Digital Officer (also CDO), the Chief Operating Officer (COO), or even the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
Decisions about the proper home for the Chief Data Officer function were driven in many organizations by a determination of whether the CDO would be focused on risk and compliance initiatives, often referred to as defensive activities, in contrast to revenue generation and business expansion activities, which are commonly considered to be offense-driven.
As the Chief Data Officer role has evolved and greater focus has been placed on activities and initiatives that support business growth and measurable business outcomes, many organizations have elevated the CDO role and purview, such that some organizations now recognize the CDO as a peer of, and partner to, the CIO.
Corporate leadership and reporting relationships have evolved over the course of the past decade as data has been elevated in organization importance. The role and responsibilities of the Chief Information Officer has also evolved with the emergence of the CDO function. It has been suggested by some observers that the traditional CIO role has become more focused on infrastructure,and less focused on information. Proponents of this view argue that it is more apt to describe the traditional CIO function as the Chief Information Technology Officer, due to the role this function plays in managing information technology (IT) functions for the corporation.
