Steve Berez: Putting Data Into the Right Hands

STEVE BEREZ: Many companies struggle to get their analytics capabilities up to speed because they make large technology investments without a clear understanding of the business value that they'll generate from those. Or they have outdated policies that keep data from flowing into the hands of the people that know best how to use it. It's common for companies to spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars on advanced analytics technology programs. We see other CIOs who focus mainly on keeping their data accurate, secure and private. Yet despite these efforts, a Bain survey of 325 global companies found that 59 percent believe they lack the capabilities that generate meaningful business insights from their data.

The issue is that companies don't create value by owning the latest technology, or by managing data access rights. While using the right technology and keeping data secure have never been more important, value is created by putting data in the hands of businesspeople. And this is where many companies stumble. Successful CIOs are moving to an Agile approach where technologists, data scientists and businesspeople work in close collaboration to focus the technology investments and analytical activities on the areas with the greatest potential to derive real, meaningful insights for the business. They avoid monolithic programs, and instead work in short increments, delivering value to the organization on each cycle, and using what they learn to focus future efforts.

Read the Bain Brief: Building IT Capabilities to Deliver Better Insights