Gartner says the most effective data and analytics leaders focus on creating business value, nurturing data and analytics talent, and changing culture.
The role of the chief data and analytics officer (CDAO) is growing in influence as it becomes required for organisations to transform data into business value,” said Carlie Idoine, VP Analyst at Gartner. “CDAOs must deliver tangible business outcomes for their organisations and stakeholders, but they struggle to show value. Leaders need to prove how D&A can improve business processes, lead to better decisions and support digital transformation.”
To accomplish these outcomes, CDAOs must exhibit the right traits and behaviours to be effective in their role.
Four key areas that influence a CDAO’s level of effectiveness
Leadership: Creating and sustaining a strong D&A function by exhibiting critical leadership behaviours such as relationship building, influencing, communication and building an engaged team.
Skills and culture: Making data-informed decisions a habit across the enterprise – something business users do automatically as part of their workflow — by enhancing data literacy and making it simple for business users to integrate data and analytics into their workflows.
Operational excellence: Improving the efficiency and quality of business processes through platforms and tools to enable more consistent and higher-quality execution.
Business outcomes: Generating business value and supporting transformation by infusing D&A throughout the organisation.
“A clear trend among top-performing CDAOs is linking data and analytics to prioritised, measured business outcomes, while also forging partnerships across the business and building an engaged team.”
Carlie Idoine
“CDAOs who focus on specific business objectives show value to stakeholders locally and organisations globally and boost their overall effectiveness,” concluded Idoine.
