5 data management strategies for surviving an uncertain economy
If there’s a single nugget of advice you take away, let it be this: as tempting as it may be to pause, delay or defer your data management and larger digital modernization efforts during economic downturns — don’t.
Digital transformation isn’t a light switch you simply flip on and off. Enterprises cannot slow down; once started, momentum must be maintained. The innovation curve has become significantly more exponential, and if customers don’t focus on long-term, mission-critical transformations, they will likely find themselves unable to escape recessions, pandemics and other economic quagmires.
“This too shall pass” is a favorite maxim of actor Tom Hanks, and it illuminates this very point — economic peaks, plateaus and valleys are cyclical. In April 2020, American Airlines purchased and implemented our solutions. Frankly, given the pandemic-related chaos, I was surprised. When I called them, their rationale was enlightening: Transformation cannot stop. They recognized the need to understand their customers better, and even if their business shut down for six months, people would fly again. They needed to propel long-term investment and get ahead of changing customer behavior. They simply couldn’t afford to sit and wait for the pandemic to pass to get started.
A consequence of downturns is often talent loss, either voluntarily or through layoffs. When it comes to data management and digital transformation, it can cause severe disruption to productivity and accessibility if traditional gatekeepers like IT or data teams are impacted.
Reduce the burden on IT personnel and minimize your risk by empowering other departments and line-of-business users to own the data they frequently need, use or have expertise about. This can be just as much a culture shift as it is introducing new tools, but consider integrating more plug-and-play solutions, low-code/no-code SaaS and self-service products that can help simplify data access and tasks for even the least data-literate employees.
It’s clear this is already on the minds of many leadership teams. In a study Informatica recently commissioned from Wakefield Research, of the 600 chief data officers, chief analytics officers and chief data and analytics officers from the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific we surveyed, 46% reported improving data-driven culture and literacy as a 2023 priority.
On that note, while this is not necessarily data management-specific, I often tell any leader who will listen: Minimize complexity by maximizing talent. In a downturn when hiring pauses and freezes, and layoffs may lead to skills shortages or gaps, lean on existing personnel and encourage opportunities to upskill and uplevel.
Undoubtedly, your data teams are driven by the desire to do cutting-edge, mission-critical work.
