The Strain on Data Supply Chains: Why Data Democratization is a Priority
Building stronger data supply chains will ultimately create a positive impact for the business and its key stakeholders.
While the coronavirus pandemic has introduced uncertainties and fluidity across industry and economic landscapes, there is one thing we know without a doubt: many businesses will be permanently transformed by changes to their data supply chains. As the extreme toll of the coronavirus spread across the world, the ensuing shutdowns and stay-at-home orders in country after country roiled businesses, shifting the focus to business resilience and adaptability, while staying true to enterprise purpose. Many adjusted to the new realities by putting tremendous pressure on IT departments and chief data officers (CDOs) to provide employees and business partners access to information as soon as possible, essentially trying to democratize data in the blink of an eye.
Data democratization – giving an entire organization and its ecosystem of partners and suppliers access to easy-to-understand information – has long been cited as the way to unlock value from the vast data-sets organizations maintain. Effective access to information is essential to entering new markets, unleashing new opportunities, and strengthening the data supply chain. And in the face of the pandemic, data supply chains have become absolutely essential to drive accelerated business outcomes for every stakeholder in the value chain.
As businesses were forced to close premises and employees moved to remote working, business leaders across the value chain also found their access to data – from within the enterprise and even across the entire ecosystem – rapidly restricted. Information on market demand, operations, production, supply chain, and logistics, people, finance – all critical to making business decisions and all often residing in siloed functional or organizational applications – suddenly became inaccessible. Disruptions in the data supply chain created inventory imbalances, overwhelmed online services, stressed information infrastructures, and disrupted physical supply chains.
It quickly became clear that data supply chains not only needed shoring up but also needed additional intelligence to navigate the new business realities brought on by the pandemic. Reliable, immediately accessible data is built on sophisticated algorithms to predict changes in product demand. It is also what allows companies to predict demand with greater confidence from across the business’ ecosystem. And, it’s what enables enterprises to be more responsive to changing market conditions, managing efficiency, and cost more effectively in the process.
Fortunately, many technology and data management leaders had already invested in digital transformation programs, with a core component of that effort being digitizing the data supply chain and democratizing data. Now that investment is proving to be vital.
As major food and big-box retailers experienced panic buying, it became necessary to identify and track consumer packaged goods more narrowly than in pre-pandemic conditions. Major retailers needed to forecast what inventories would look like, not just three days into the future but a full week ahead. Without access to the relevant data supply chain, businesses experienced sudden shortages and a general unpreparedness to meet demand.
