In reference to the prior column on enterprise data management and high level lego framework, this column reviews in detail the foundational layer of Organization Mission, Level 1. This foundational level requires enterprise-wide C-Level alignment is and comprised of company operating model, company culture, talent, business strategy, organization readiness and customer journey. These six lego blocks drive towards the ultimate goal of Data as an Asset (DaaA), Level 7 of sample Lego blocks by creating data driven culture and enabling data-centric thinking at all levels and across all business lines within the organization.
The recommended Lego blocks on enterprise data management visual are stacked seven blocks high beginning with Level 1: Organization Mission, Data Mission, Data Foundation, Data Enablement, Data Decisions, Data ROI and ending with Data as an Asset as level 7 at the top. In the upcoming articles， we will review each of these 7 levels in detail as part of this quarterly column.
Let’s review the foundational Level 1 — Organization Mission) and the relationship to Level 2 — Data Mission as part of this article.
Operating Model for any company is the answer to the key “WHY” questions on existence of the company. Company vision, mission, organization structure and proposition on value delivery for customers and stakeholders are some of the components of operating model.
The operating model drives the level of autonomy and standardization for business processes, technical integration and decision making across the 4 general variations of: Integrated, Allied-related, Allied-Unrelated, Holding company operating models. For example: the operating model of a company may not allow for “data sharing” across the geographical locations or business units thus limiting the scope and goal of being a “data driven” enterprise.
Company Culture for any company is the answer to the key “HOW” on operating model. The culture is formed from shared values, goals, behaviors and practices that define the organization. Culture usually is the biggest constraint or enabler for being a data driven company. Culture where all employees including leaders are agile, collaborative, inclusive and fast based will have faster and more data maturity and data innovations. A data driven culture starts with data quality at source and data driven decision making at all levels of an organization by enabling data democratization.
Talent is key to success for any company. Operating model and company culture alignment with the right talent minimizes attrition in the organization. Talent specific to enterprise data management enables Level 2 – Data Mission part of the framework. Talent with domain knowledge, business process depth and technical skills are key to Identification of relevant process and data dependencies to create and execute on data strategy.
Business Strategy is key to success for any company. What, How and When to sell and alignment to the market conditions and demand is what can be enabled by “Data Strategy’. Alignment of business strategy to any successful enterprise data strategy will need business or customer value-based prioritization and actions that grow from the business context as a root. Data driven monitoring and continued relevance of strategic key performance indicators provide insights that lead to “Meaningful” business and data strategy updates to enable accelerated innovation and value delivery.
Organizational Readiness in context to enterprise data management is a shared resolve by the company leaders and employees to be “data driven” with shared belief in their collective capability to implement it. The relationship between people, processes, technology, key data driven performance indicators and synchronization towards implementation is organizational readiness. “Data Monetization” concept in Level 2 of the EDM Lego framework needs mature organizational readiness capabilities across the company with aligned business and data strategy.
Customer Journey is the complete sum of experiences that customers go through when interacting with company and brand. In context to enterprise data management and the goal of leveraging “Data as an Asset (DaaA) customer journey becomes the center of all decision making. What data to collect, When to collect, What data can be shared for monetization, What processes can be enabled to improve customer experience or process efficiency are some of the relevant outcomes of customer experience and journey mapping. “Data Architecture” in Level 2 — Data Mission is directly related to the outcomes from customer journey.
Summary
Creation of an enterprise data strategy has many variables as referenced in the foundational Lego block layer. A successful Data strategy is a Complicated problem that is solved by embracing ambiguity in ever changing regulations, customer preferences and global economic issues among other variables. Discussions like Data Mesh, Data Fabric, Enterprise data lakes and enabling technologies is built on a mindset of “strategic tuning” while balancing ambiguity with conviction towards the end vision. We reviewed Level 1 — Organization Mission of the recommended Lego blocks on enterprise data management visual. Data as an Asset (DaaA) as an organization goal allows for growth, productivity, profitability, market differentiation, and customer experience as some of the key business outcomes.
