The Key Success Factors

Data volumes are growing at a speed that can outpace risk. These key ingredients provide a way to control the chaos and organize your data management initiatives with a stable foundation. Analytics platforms require the same level of commitment that ERPs do - for architecture, configuration, security, and business value.

Executive Support

The biggest challenge with data management programs is the lack of alignment among executives on the expectations. This causes data to be of varying quality and the end result misses the mark.

1. Find a CxO to be the data champion, decision maker, and evangelist for data-driven decisions.

2. Address the questions that matter even if they are difficult to answer. It may be financial data or it could be data from the millions of IoT devices mushrooming around us. Ask leadership what will help them succeed.

3. Ensure funding. Data initiatives are never inexpensive.

Methodology

Set a path with rigor. Use a proven methodology that helps you address the most important aspects of data management for structured and unstructured data that drive success.

1. Choose a methodology that addresses the two halves of data management - governance and solutions.

2. Select an iterative process where you start with small successes and snowball them into big ones.

3. Embed your work in domain expertise. Meaningful data produces effective decisions and this requires an dependent relationship between process and technology teams.

Accelerators

Others have done what you are doing. Many times over with structured data, less so with unstructured data. Use accelerators specific to your industry. You will realize better value for your investment.

1. Lead with the questions you need to answer and then choose the appropriate technology. Data science requires AI/ML libraries and data lake structuring. Structured analysis requires an entirely different architecture and tool set.

2. Accelerators come in the form of pre-built algorithms, libraries, metrics, data models. Find the accelerators appropriate for your industry.

3. Assess the success of the accelerators before investing your time and effort.

Scalability

Plan with scalability in mind. At the first sign of success, you will be inundated with requests. Have a plan to scale your organization, infrastructure, performance, and algorithms.

1. The questions will come from different user communities and will take an enormous array of forms.

2. Start with a technology stack that will scale rapidly and an organization that can prioritize the content and govern the use of data.

3. Have a plan to fluidly move between structured and unstructured data. This shift is coming faster than you think and in ways you are not yet anticipating.