5 Ways Chief Data Officers Are Changing Data Strategy

By Glenn Finch, IBM

What’s the hottest new job -- in so many ways -- in the C-Suite these days? The Chief Data Officer. In 2003, Capital One appointed the first CDO. By 2015, about 25% of the 500 largest companies will have one in place, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

And these CDOs truly are in the hot seat. With the cloud underpinning the skyrocketing rise of big data and analytics, not only are these execs responsible for gathering, analyzing and responding to an unprecedented amount of data. (During the past two years, the world generated a zettabyte of information, or more information than in all of history.) They’re also expected to come up with novel products and services, craft new business models and pinpoint which markets to attack.

Talk about going from zero to 60 in seconds. With expectations so high around big data and the potential for payoff so huge, the pressure is on for CDOs to deliver. Which is why they’re ushering in new policies, new technologies, and new positions. They’re combining cloud, mobile and analytics to stay in step with customers and employees. They’re wrangling decades of unbridled, unmanaged data expansion into cohesive and transformative analytical platforms.

And CDOs are tackling all these tasks without a roadmap. No surprise, then, that a recent study from the IBM Institute of Business Value, "The New Hero of Data Analytics," found that many organizations are struggling to understand what CDOs do, where they put that role within the organization, and what these executives' responsibilities are.

Still, CEOs agree on one point: They don’t just want to store more data better, they want to innovate around that data. Just how are successful CDOs getting the job done? In talking with CDOs at early-adopter organizations, five strategies are clear. They are:

1. Take advantage of the data: Many of the CDOs we interviewed started first by making the most of low-hanging fruit. They churned out quick, high-profile successes by mining their organizations’ already existing data. By focusing on analyzing the data creatively, they pull out new insights that their companies can use, pinpoint potential for creating new enterprise offerings and revenue streams, and identify marketable data.

2. Monetize the data: Once these CDOs uncover strategic data, they focus on combining that data with other data and finding new approaches to exploit the information beyond existing processes and functions to cut costs or increase revenues. For example, a telecommunications company might augment its location data with other customer demographics to offer more convenient mobile banking.

3. Enrich the data: Next, using the revenues or savings created through better data use and monetization, CDOs start making the data they have more comprehensive and valuable. They add to existing dataset by combining together data from disparate silos within their organizations, collecting data from new outside sources, whether government or social media feeds, and integrating data from business partners.

4. Upkeep the data: As companies gather and use a bigger, wider variety of data, managing that data becomes trickier and ever more important. CDOs point out how crucial it is to implement new and different methods for ensuring the quality and good governance of data. The CDO is accountable for data integrity, veracity and value.

5. Protect the data: It’s crystal clear, with company brands, loyalty, and sales being pummeled by security and privacy breaches, how important protecting data has become. Working together with another executive, typically the Chief Information Security Officer, CDOs focus on mapping out a comprehensive approach to building security into new platforms and bolstering the protection of existing technologies.

The real measure of CDOs' success will be whether they can help to drive real value from data. Rather than be risk adverse, they should be ready to assess opportunities and venture into new areas in finding new ways to work. Chances are the most successful CDOs will be at organizations that got an early start in establishing the CDO position and building an effective organization to support the role.