An organisation’s data strategy should be the starting point for any investment in data technology or people. It is a business strategy document that lays out the information needs of the organisation from the board to the front line and shows how people, processes and technology should look in the future as well as a roadmap for change to allow the organisation to reach its goals through the use of its own information.

This strategy might include all or some of the following:

• Vision – Ambition, strategy, culture, focus, investment
• Business value – Information themes and requirements, monetisation, revenue and risk
• Data governance – Data asset lifecycle management, data quality, risk and compliance
• Technology – Data collection, storage, management and exploitation (including AI and analytics)
• Operating model – People, processes, functions and ownership
• Roadmap – Quick wins, Change management strategy and plan to implement over 3-5 years

We would recommend some form of data strategy review at the outset of any BI or data warehouse project. A data strategy should be formally reviewed every 3-5 years and customers tell us that they have benefited significantly from the external perspective and audit type nature of these exercises.

Although the primary focus of a data strategy should be the business and ultimately the shareholders or stakeholders in the business, there is also a need in large organisations to look at this from an IT perspective. Often called an information management strategy, a CIO focused review of an organisations data and how it is used can also be produced. It is also possible to focus on other aspects of the data strategy, to conduct for example a data governance strategy or a business intelligence strategy.

As well as building a strategy, we can also help to implement the strategy by defining and designing a practical programme of work, working with your senior management from a business implementation perspective and coordinating business strategy, reporting, data science and technology to improve business performance.