Data and the CXO – a 2018 match to watch out for
You may have heard the adage that ‘the world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data’ and experts are predicting a 4300% increase in data generation by the year 2020. In 2018, just two years away from this astronomical increase, data already permeates the entire organisation and is a company’s most valuable commodity, no matter the industry. For sales professionals, having the most up-to-date data on prospects is essential to closing a deal; for manufacturers, gathering data from sensors in a factory can identify areas where efficiency and productivity can be improved.
Data is everywhere; it is the foundation on which an entire organisation is built, and the lifeblood which keeps it moving and growing. Ordinarily, the understanding and managing of this ‘fuel’ would be a responsibility of the Chief Information or Chief Data Officer, but with the proliferation and importance of data to a company’s strategy and growth today, much of the c-suite is having to bear some of that responsibility.
This data, though, must be properly structured to get any real value from it. Without an accurate, structured set of data across a business, decisions will continue to be made in silos and valuable resources wasted with incorrect or outdated information. Working with siloed data makes it hard to manage and analyse enterprise-wide. It also makes it more difficult to identify the types of valuable opportunities that spark growth.
Such is the importance of data, all c-level executives (CXOs) must now be doing two things: firstly, ensure these siloes are broken down so you can easily identify opportunities that can be shared across the enterprise, and secondly ensure you have a master data strategy across the business. Many of the headaches experienced by the c-suite include lost revenue, lost customers and legal woes. However, a lot of these concerns will be remedied with a master data process that helps structure and organise data to create a single source of truth from which businesses can identify pain points and make better and more accurate decisions.
Here are five steps for success through data in 2018 for CXOs:
1. Establish data governance policies Data governance is defined as the overall management of the availability, usability, integrity and security of the data employed by an enterprise.
