by Angela Guess
Inderpal Bhandari, IBM’s new Chief Data Officer, recently answered five questions about the position in Forbes. Bhandari starts with a basic description of the job: “The role of chief data officer (CDO) is a new role in the C-suite as organizations use big data and analytics to transform their business models and business processes. Gartner predicts that 90 percent of large companies will have a CDO in place by the end of 2019. A CDO develops strategic, innovative capabilities that deliver data-driven insights to enable growth, productivity, and improve customer experience. A CDO should also develop a clear data strategy, govern and manage the data as an asset, deliver the centralized source of trusted data, build deep data and analytics partnerships with different business units within a company as well as external partners, and develop and scale talent in the areas of data engineering and data sciences.”
Next, he explains what makes a good data strategy: “The focus of the data strategy should be on monetization. Such an approach leads to questions such as, ‘How does the company create value for its customers?’ ‘What data do you need to deliver that value proposition?’ ‘What do you need to do with that data?’ ‘How do you manage that data so it is and remains fit for that purpose’?”
Speaking about the cloud, Bhandari says, “The cloud provides the scale that is required to implement cognitive systems. It is also the platform for change that’s providing the impetus for undergoing major transitions by businesses. Uncertainty comes with the territory when executing a cloud- and data-driven strategy. However, uncertainty can be managed through constant communication with others in the C-suite as well as teammates in IT, finance and other departments. Ensure that everyone involved understands the overarching goals and the path to implementation.”
Photo credit: LinkedIn