Accelerating Digital Transformation in Businesses Adopting Data Strategy

Data is an invaluable resource for today's business. The value of information is well-understood, but unlocking that value is often a challenge because of the high volume of data and the challenges linked with collecting, organising, and activating it. Building a data strategy can help businesses overcome these challenges and access the value of their data while efficiently using resources.

What is Data Strategy?

A data strategy is a common reference of methods, services, architecture, usage patterns, and procedures for obtaining, incorporating, storing, and securing, managing, monitoring, analysing, and operationalizing data. It is a checklist for developing a roadmap toward the digital transformation journey that companies are actively following as part of their modernization efforts. It includes clarifying the target vision and practical guidance for achieving that goal, with clearly articulated success criteria and key performance indicators that can be used to review and rationalise all subsequent data initiatives.

A data strategy does not provide a detailed solution to use cases and specific technical problems. It is limited to high-level constructs intended only for senior leadership. Sustaining a successful data strategy requires executive sponsorship and governance for alignment with corporate objectives and commitment. The data strategy evolves with corporate objectives. It keeps up with how a business is operating and how supporting technologies and related innovations are maturing.

The Power of Data Strategy

Most companies worldwide today have realised the value of data and have started thinking about how to use it for better decision making. However, realising its importance and being able to use it strategically are two different things. And this is where most companies falter. Let's explore the power of a data strategy and why it is essential in adding value to businesses.

Harnessing the Power of Data

Nowadays, the value of data is well-understood. Instead of seeing data as a byproduct of various business activities, many organisations realise how valuable a resource it is. Unlocking that value, however, can be a challenge. Enterprises might not know what big data is. They also might not understand what data to collect or how to ustilise it effectively. Once the data is gathered, they might face the challenge of converting it into a useful form, sharing it across the organisation, and deriving insights from it. A data strategy guides how to do these things and ensures consistency.

Improving Data Management

When a data-related problem pops up, the first reaction of many companies is to solve the problem. This approach may work for a while, but it is not the most efficient method of fixing data-related issues. It also does not advocate problems that may span department and project boundaries.

Data access and usage are organisational needs, and they influence every group and seniority level within a company. That's the reason why it's beneficial to implement a company-wide solution like a data strategy. Developing a strategy improves data management across the entire organisation and ensures various departments work in alignment with each other.

Making Data More Actionable and Accessible

Although raw data has tremendous potential, taking advantage of it quite difficult until it is converted into a usable format. Data usually comes from many difficult sources in various forms. Data need to be transformed, corrected, and formatted consistently to make it accessible and usable for all. Putting data in a consistent, usable format will reduce the number of steps employees need to take before they can use it and make it easy to share within a company to embrace digital transformation.

Organisations that embrace a holistic data strategy can manage the challenge of adopting and adapting innovation efficiently into existing operations. Without a holistic data strategy, businesses risk internal miscommunication and inefficient use of data technology, delayed time to market, and poor quality solutions. Stimulate digital transformation and define data strategy will add value to businesses.