Are We In an Era Where Every Company Should Have a Chief Data Officer?
Hiring a Chief Data Officer (CDO) has become a priority for many organizations. Businesses are in a rush to find a CDO. Being not a new role, some companies are yet to embrace a CDO even in our era of big data.
Is a data officer needed in every organization? Is it essential that all organizations have one on board? In unraveling these two questions, we need to know who a CDO is, what role they play in an organization, and what they do.
Who is a CDO and why are they Critical?
Gartner’s definition of a Chief Data Officer is, “An individual who is accountable for an organization’s big data and information strategy, governance, policy, development, and effective exploitation.”
CDO at Zensact, Vanessa Ericksson’s innumerable years of experience is consistent with Gartner’s definition. She singles out that in today’s data-driven world, many organizations don’t yet have the title, but have the responsibilities. People already working as CDOs struggle to find their identity as Chief Data Officers. Giving CDOs permission to use their title, acknowledges their role and sends a message that an organization is serious about their data.
Using data to make crucial business decisions and influencing an organization’s revenue streams adds to the rising need for a CDO. An organization receives data from multiple sources, but an individual must examine its integrity regarding security and privacy.
An organization’s agenda must contain responsible AI. And it needs someone accountable for propelling the agenda. While a business leader focuses on innovation and additional income streams, the CDO guarantees they are making educated decisions.
Why Hire a CDO Today?
From Vanessa’s experience, there are three reasons why organizations hire a CDO. They are:
- Compliance, security, and responsible AI — work for a governance-focused chief analytics officer
- Innovation, IoT, digitization — work for an insight-focused chief analytics officer
- Enterprise-improving efficiency and cost management — work for a data management-focused chief analytics officer
Organizations hire CDOs for one of the three aforementioned roles. However, it does not imply that the other areas are not of importance. All three areas work in unison and require equal attention.
What Entails a CDO’s Task
Just like any new personnel, the CDO needs to get accustomed to the organization. He/she needs to identify how the organization functions, who owns which data and identify the pain points. It’s imperative that they spend time with stakeholders from various departments and working capacities. This enables them to figure out the certain hindrances of an organization’s data.
A new CDO spends their first 100 days figuring out and determining the capabilities and resources needed to support an organization with data.
A CDO Plan of Action
Setting up Data Governance Maturity Model — enables the CDO to determine which area of the organization they must focus on. This model helps a CDO explain to the executives where the organization is located in terms of governance.
Setting up a Target Operating Model — helps a CDO understand how an organization functions in today’s big data world and determining its future. When a CDO is hired, they have a vision of how an organization should function, but they also adopt different units and individuals in various positions within the company. Having a conversation with people helps a CDO determine where there is a bottleneck in the organization’s data.
Setting up Data Governance Framework — helps the CDO determine which aspects of the organization’s data governance are working and which are theorized. By having a conversation with stakeholders, who claim to own the data-data custodians, the CDO figures out the organization’s structure and creates a data governance framework and an implementation roadmap.
A CDO’s Worth
He/she represents the sole point of contact for the organization concerning data. Organizations today have multiple data streams in operation, should a problem arise, people have no clue who to turn to.
Hiring a CDO in order to drive the organization’s data initiatives enables the organization to have a distinct point of reference for data-related questions. Additionally, a CDO helps dissect the silos and creates a comprehensive view of an organization’s data.
A CDO’s directive is policy creation, guidelines, and rules and enforcing them to be in charge of data.
Finally…
Just like any organization has a CTO in charge of technology, a CFO responsible for finances, in our big data era, it is imperative to have a CDO — an individual who will look after the organization’s data, educate management on growth capabilities and ensure the organization’s data is safe.
