Data is the lifeblood of the modern digital organisation; the fuel that powers more efficient processes, new products and services. Yet, without a coherent data strategy, it can go under-utilised, its potential wasted, or cause security issues down the line. So how can firms create an effective strategy to ensure this doesn’t happen?
It’s important for any data strategy to understand the mission and how to best cultivate and interpret the data.
Chuck Brooks, principal growth strategist for cybersecurity at General Dynamics Mission Systems
For this, Brooks recommends ‘an adaptive strategy that has to be continually updated and tested in an evolving intelligent enterprise.’
Ade McCormack, founder of the Digital Readiness Institute, agrees, noting that while ‘traditionally, the subject of data strategy would really be one of data management strategy’ the focus has now changed.
Today we need a strategy for turning data into better business decisions and improved services.
Ade McCormack, founder of the Digital Readiness Institute
For some, this is a question of getting to grips with data. Stéphane Nappo, cyber-security expert for Groupe SEB, recommends applying the advice of Aristotle – Know Thyself – to your business’s data, first establishing the types of data produced and used in company activities then considering where it’s produced, received and stored. The crucial thing is to have a full understanding of ‘what kinds of data make the company live?’
By answering these questions, Nappo argues, businesses are in a better position to align their data strategy with the business strategy, then identify the data that poses the biggest regulatory and security risks. This helps the organisation prioritise these risks and ensure their data strategy and frameworks are fit for purpose, ‘designing reliable system(s), where your security strategy is a part of your data strategy.’
That’s a priority shared by Ludmila Morozova-Buss, Ph.D researcher at Capitol Technology University. ‘Make data strategy and cybersecurity strategy a priority,’ she argues, suggesting firms ‘prepare to effectively address advanced threats’ as ‘keeping up with new threats can be daunting until you consider what it takes to defend against them.’ When it comes to wider data strategy, she believes that companies should either ‘follow the industry leaders or become one’.
Others suggest that developing a modern data strategy involves looking beyond the priorities and requirements of IT.
Far too often data is seen to be the responsibility of IT. Data actually belongs to the business areas that generate and use data to make decisions, so any effective data strategy has to be made in conjunction with the business.
Andrew Robson, Chief Information Security Officer, Bentley Motors
StarCIO President, Isaac Sacolick, agrees, arguing that encouraging employees in different business units to ask challenging questions can help firms ‘prioritise the most actionable ones that can deliver business impact, and organise an agile team of data scientists, engineers, and business analysts to investigate.’ By answering these questions, organisations can build their data strategy piece by piece, exposing required data-ops improvements, any new sources required, plus associated governance tasks.
Ensuring that no data source is under-used or undiscovered is a crucial step in all of this. As Scott Schober, CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, puts it, ‘effective CIOs cannot afford to disregard any data that feeds AI and ML systems if they wish to fundamentally improve and future-proof their business.’
Yet, a comprehensive understanding of your data and a flexible strategy to exploit it will only get you so far. ‘Digital age organisations need to be data-driven,’ says McCormack, but ‘the problem is that organisations of any sophistication rarely have a coherent enterprise data architecture and so consequently what is intended as a data lake is actually a data cesspit. As you might imagine, this is reflected in the associated business outcomes.’
The key is to combine an effective strategy with an architecture and a platform capable of bringing it all together securely, ensuring that the right data is exposed to analytics and AI. It’s the only way to transform data from a potent raw material into a source of energy for future business growth.
Learn More: https://www.hpe.com/us/en/storage/intelligent-storage.html
Groupe SEB
Vice President and Global Chief Information Security Officer
Stéphane is a senior level cybersecurity executive with over two decades of experience in the industry. As a proactive business strategist and advocate for the constructive deployment and implementation of digital technologies, Stéphane assembles talented, professional and skills-based teams to carry out an organisation’s transformation. He helps them locate, seize and embrace emerging business opportunities, whilst providing oversight, direction and guidance.
Georgetown University
Adjunct Faculty
Chuck Brooks is a globally recognised thought leader and evangelist for cybersecurity and emerging technologies. He is Adjunct Faculty to Georgetown University’s Graduate Programs in Cybersecurity and in Applied Intelligence. LinkedIn named Chuck as one of “The Top 5 Tech People to Follow on LinkedIn”. He was named by Thompson Reuters as a “Top 50 Global Influencer in Risk, Compliance,” and by IFSEC as the “#2 Global Cybersecurity Influencer”.
Capital Technology University
Ph.D in Technology with Masters of Science Research Methods. Researcher. Student
With a clear grasp of systems theory and pervasive, persistent and resilient interconnectedness, Ludmila is a uniquely qualified lead moderator and facilitator of Global #MegaTrends Roundtable – a select gathering of industry leaders across industries ranging from protégées through mentors across all professions while emphasising the common connectedness of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
Bentley Motors
Chief Information Security Officer
Andrew is a solutions-oriented IT security specialist with notable success directing a broad range of corporate IT initiatives while participating in planning and implementation of information security solutions in direct support of business objectives. He has a track record of increasing responsibility in secure network design, systems analysis and development and full lifecycle project management and is adept at developing effective security policies and procedures, project documentation and milestones and technical/business specifications.
Berkeley Varitronics Systems
CEO
In 1999, Scott was named President and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems (a premier, family-run telecommunications and security product manufacturer). The company is now the leading provider of advanced solutions for the wireless industry and produces custom-engineered products for wireless threat detection, M2M, Wifi, Cellular, WiMAX, LTE, and advanced radio test instruments.
Digital Readiness Institute
CIO/Consultant/Adviser/Keynote Speaker
Ade’s extensive experience covers many organisations, countries and industries. A former technologist, today he is focused on public and private sector leadership and transformation. He has worked with MIT and Cambridge University on executive education, written six books on digital age matters and was a former opinion columnist with the Financial Times and CIO magazine, in both cases focusing on digital age leadership.