Understanding The Value of Data
David Linthicum
Internationally Known AI and Cloud Computing Thought Leader and Influencer, Enterprise Technology Innovator, Educator, Best Selling Author, Speaker, GenAI Architecture Mentor, Over the Hill Mountain Biker.
It was my pleasure to be a guest on IDG’s “The Big Pivot podcast.” Hosting the podcast was Rob O’Regan from IDG.
The podcast asked a critical question: Why don’t more organizations manage data the way they manage their money? It’s a current and compelling topic, because we’re taking another look at data and data integration as we move to the cloud.
Graeme Thompson, senior VP and CIO of Informatica, joined Rob and I for the podcast. Graeme recently wrote a blog post about how data is a business asset. However, many organizations don’t frame that opportunity in the right context, which set the stage for the discussion.
As Graeme puts it, “two things are essential: Perspective and precision.” Perspective refers to the fact that CIOs need to communicate their end-to-end knowledge of their organization’s data. Precision means making sure you have a well-thought-out enterprise data management strategy.
Why is this important? It’s the difference between having data you can use, even for purposes you haven’t thought of yet, versus just having a disconnected mess that’s more a problem than a solution to anything.
The fundamental message here is to respect your data as an asset that you can leverage now, as well as leverage in the future. I don’t know how many times I’ve worked with clients who don’t have the historical data that they need, nor do they have a single source of truth for the data.
Solving this problem requires a couple of things:
First, you need to have a plan for the collection and use of data. Most Global 200 companies do not have a plan, and thus end up missing huge pieces of data that limit analysis going forward, not to mention missing pieces of traditional business transactions data.
Second, you need to have a sound data management and data integration strategy, as well as the right enabling technology in place. Data integration is an older concept, but it’s not practiced well by most enterprises. This means that they are limited by what use the data can have to drive visibility into the business.