Every organisation, no matter the size or industry, must have a data Strategy in place. Here we discuss how to create an effective enterprise data Strategy.
If a business is going to be run in a smart way, it must be guided by strategy and data. Whether your organisation is Google-sized or family-run, all companies in all industries must therefore develop a data strategy to be successful. It's one thing to know you need one, and it's another to understand what should be considered and included in an effective data strategy. Instead of leaving this important task to chance, read on to learn the essential elements of an effective enterprise data strategy.
Why Every Company Should Have a Data Strategy
It's simple. Data has become the fuel of the 4 Industrial Revolution. In order to get the most out of data, you must have a data strategy. In the scramble to keep up with others, many companies make the mistake of hoarding data and investing in data analytics and data storage technologies that ultimately aren't right for their business. This often costly mistake can be avoided by spending the effort to create a data strategy. A data strategy helps you understand and clarify how the data will be used in practice and chart a course for how you will use data to achieve your company's goals.
The amount of data continues to grow, and as it multiplies, it becomes more complex to manage and extract insights. While it might have been possible in the past to get by without a data strategy, the increasing strategic importance and the explosive growth in the volumes of data today make that no longer a reality. To have efficient and effective data management, a data strategy must be put in place.
Data can be an incredibly valuable business asset, but only if you have a plan to access the data that can help you achieve your company goals. There are millions of ways data can support business, but if what you’re collecting isn’t aligned with helping achieve your goals, it’s as beneficial as if you weren’t using data at all. To avoid this misstep and unlock the value of data, it is vital to first figure out the most importantuse cases for your organisation.
This focus on your organisation's uses cases will help you develop a good data strategy that helps you achieve your business objectives. I recommend developing three to five key data use cases.
