Developing an Organizational Data Strategy

Organizations eager to become more data-driven as part of their digital transformation need to consider the pragmatic steps for how they will achieve this – through a robust data strategy.  Many organizations focus primarily on tech as the driver of digital transformation, overlooking the critical impact of a comprehensive data strategy that considers both strategic and operational contexts. Strategically, businesses must establish who makes data decisions, how data creates business value, what architecture will scale with growth, and how security requirements will be met. Operationally, companies must also focus on developing staff capabilities, ensuring data integrity, maximizing accessibility, and facilitating organizational adaptation. This course enables business and technology leaders to align on these pillars – and provides a structured environment for identifying key focus areas. Substantial time will be spent ideating practical actions to immediately improve your organization’s data strategy in these areas.

Key topics covered in this course: 

• Data strategy and its importance to digital transformation
• Core strategic and operational pillars of a comprehensive data strategy 
• Internal and external factors that impact your data strategy 
• Approach for drafting an achievable, pragmatic data strategy with stakeholder buy-in

Upon successful completion of the course, learner outcomes include: 

• Shared understanding of the data strategy pillars to extend discussions beyond the course
• Stronger individual and collective capability to address data challenges and tradeoffs
• Identified priority focus area crucial for creating an organizational data strategy and a beginning action plan with which to implement

Potential learners:

• Business function leaders (departmental, business unit, etc.)
• Analytical function leaders (BI, Analyst, Data Engineering, Data Scientists, etc.)
• Senior Executives

Partner Requirements – Checklist

• Meet with SME or provide in-depth responses to the following questions:
  • Describe your high level data stack/team:
    • Current technologies
    • Rough data volumes for operational data
    • Current team makeup
  • Who manages operational data vs broader enterprise data?
  • What data priorities or challenges are the greatest current focus? 
  • Provide a high level overview of the categories of data that are most important to the company under the following headings:
    • Customer Data
    • Operational Data
    • Financial Data
    • Employee and Organizational Data
    • Market and Competitor Data
• Following session 1, provide 3 priority focus areas for session 2 deep dive

Learner Prerequisites: 

• Knowledge of the organization’s business context and strategic priorities
• Understanding of the organization’s data and digital transformation initiatives