Chief Data Officers are the Chief Translators

In some respects, being a Chief Data Officer is really about being a professional translator. Although we all work in the same business, we tend to create our own language about data, based on the outcomes we’re expected to drive:

• Technology teams are experts in cloud and physical storage, movement, and transformation of data.
• Data teams know what the data means and how it is structured
• Data scientists and analysts know exactly how to create meaningful analytics solutions that provide insight and value.
• Business users of analytics know exactly the business problem they’re trying to solve.

And thus, data analytics must be a team sport with each teammate bringing their respective strengths to the team.? I don’t think that anyone would argue that a World Cup soccer team with 11 goal keepers or 11 strikers on the field would fare better than one with a blend of solid defenders and crafty offensive players.? And yet, in the analytics space we constantly hear that “the business doesn’t get it” or “these data scientists are focused on math over value.” ? If we aren’t pulling in the same direction, we can lose the trust of stakeholders when it comes to our data and analytics efforts.

This is the real value of today’s CDO. It’s about getting these diverse groups to communicate and collaborate within a DataOps framework – so they can work together to drive decisions. This extends to the value of the Chief Data Analytics Officer, as they are now the Chief Connector of people across analytics programs.

As Tracy Daniels, CDO at Truist Bank recently told CIO, “The CDO role touches every area of the organization, and in a large financial services company it requires collaboration at all levels. I bridge those conversations, especially between my technology and business peers, as well as the executive team and board, to advance data literacy at all levels.”

Speaking the language of DataOps

Collaboration within a DataOps framework has become all-important, as this approach is designed to balance secure control and governance with the agility and speed that today’s business environment demands. CDOs are leveraging DataOps to make it easier for data scientists and business analysts to join forces – and for discrete business units to collaborate around the analysis of data and sharing of results.?

DataOps can sound technical and complex, but this explanation by Dan Potter is a great starting point for these concepts:

Real alignment between technology and business teams is the final hurdle of digital transformation and scalability of a data-driven business. By fostering this communication and collaboration, the CDO can fuel their organization’s growth by delivering valuable data to every business user when they need it - in a consumable and governed way.

So, the question for CDOs is now: what are you doing that’s enabling you to translate between the different business units in your organization? What are you doing each day that enables people who don't speak the same language, to talk to each other just a little bit more clearly? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.

About the author:

As the CDO at Qlik, I walk in our clients’ shoes by making sure Qlik's data processes, management and tools are aligned. If you’d like to discuss how you can start democratizing data in your business with a modern data architecture using proper data governance processes and tools, please get in touch with me at [email protected].