From Business Strategy to Data Strategy to Data Stewardship

“Data is the new oil”

“Data is the new currency”

“Data is the common language”

All these buzz-phrases fail to resonate when you are trying to secure a budget for data programs in a management meeting. Distracted stakeholders, lack of impact, and stagnating initiatives often become the norm as data quality issues mount and data compliance challenges multiply.

Everyone recognizes the need for a data-driven culture, yet nobody wants to own the responsibility. Conducting a lot of data workshops will not bring you closer to your objectives if data stewardship and strategy are not aligned with the business strategy.

The struggle is real and the cycle is repetitive – once you leave the organization after years of struggle, your successor restarts the data stewardship program, and the story replays.

Does this sound familiar to you?

As a data professional, it is...

Understanding the strategic, tactical, and operational value of data stewardship

Data stewardship is the practice of managing data ethically and responsibly. Data stewards are responsible for ensuring that data is used in a way that respects the rights of individuals and meets the business objectives of the organization. Data stewardship requires a holistic approach to data management. It involves developing a data strategy that aligns with the organization’s business strategy, establishing data governance policies and procedures, and designing data models and architectures that can support the implementation of an automated data operating model on the cloud. All of these only make sense if you can tie them to business objectives.

Now, we will look at how data stewardship is related to business strategy and how it can help businesses achieve their goals. We will also discuss how to develop a data strategy that aligns with the business strategy and how to identify the key...

Unlocking business value with data stewardship

Let’s explore the importance of data stewardship in unlocking business value. Data stewardship can help your organization to make informed decisions based on trustworthy data. This is the cornerstone of all your data analytics and AI initiatives because data is the ultimate fuel.

Let’s understand what a business strategy is and why it’s relevant to data strategy and data governance.

Understanding business strategy

Let’s zoom in on the concept of business strategy and how it is used to drive business outcomes. Since it is not a book about business strategy, we will just lightly touch on how a business strategy is developed.

A business strategy is a plan of action that outlines how a business will achieve its goals and objectives. It involves setting objectives, identifying resources, analyzing the competitive environment, and creating a plan of action to reach the desired outcome. The strategy should...

Exploring the mindset and skillset gap

Mindset is the direction; skillset is your muscle.

With the right direction and strong muscles, you are capable of doing the right things in the right way.

Data stewardship is a critical component of any successful business and data strategy. It requires a combination of the right mindset and the right skillset to ensure that data is managed and used effectively. In this section, we will explore the importance of having the right mindset and skillset when it comes to data stewardship.

The right mindset is essential to data stewardship. It is important to understand the value of data stewardship and how it can help the organization achieve its goals. This means having an understanding of the importance of data governance, data quality, and data security. It also means being able to identify the right data sources and datasets to use and understanding the impact of data on the organization. One of the most important elements in the data...

Translating strategy into execution

In this section, we will explore the process of transforming a business strategy into a data strategy and then into data stewardship. We will provide you with an understanding of how to create a feedback loop between business strategy and data stewardship to ensure continuous improvement.

Executing a data strategy involves putting the plan into action. This involves implementing the data collection and management processes, developing the analytics and reporting tools, and creating the necessary infrastructure to support the data strategy.

The following subsections list the steps to execute a data strategy, common challenges faced, and recommendations to tackle those challenges.

Data collection

The first step in executing a data strategy is to collect the necessary data. Again, do not boil the ocean, and try to use the concept of CDE to scale down the complexity when you start a pilot. This involves setting up the data scoping process...

Decoding data governance, management, and stewardship

Are data governance and data management different? What roles do data stewards play? You might have several questions at this point. Let’s define these terms to help you understand the key differences and relationships between them.

Data governance is the comprehensive management of the availability, usability, integrity, and security of the data employed in an enterprise. It involves establishing methods, policies, and procedures to ensure the data is well-managed throughout its life cycle.

Consider a large multinational bank. In this context, data governance involves setting up robust policies and procedures to ensure the safety and accuracy of financial data. The bank needs to establish clear rules about who can access the data, how it can be used, and how it should be secured. These rules are enforced through a combination of technologies, processes, and people. The bank also needs to ensure that its data governance...

Summary

In conclusion our exploration of the journey from business strategy to data strategy to data stewardship, it is evident that a comprehensive approach to data management is required, one that fully aligns with the organization’s overarching business strategy. It’s the business strategy that sets the course for the data strategy, ultimately determining how data should be managed, used, and protected.

Implementing this strategy necessitates the establishment of robust data governance policies and procedures, which are brought to life through the right combination of people, processes, and technology. The execution of a data strategy is a multi-faceted process involving the collection and management of data, the development of analytical and reporting tools, and the creation of a sturdy and flexible data infrastructure.

Data stewardship plays a crucial role in this journey, acting as the key to unlocking the true value of data. However, realizing data value...