NOVEMBER 20239 catalogs did change our game. They allow us to bring down our data silos with less sweat and to work with our data more effectively. Secondly, by pumping data into each department at high quality and smoothing the data access process, we are one step closer to a data-driven company.To fully utilize the power of big data, a customer data platform (CDP) can be the next safe bet. Knowing exactly who our customers' portrait is, what they are looking for, and how well we are serving them will give our organization a business advantage. If investment cost, partner locking, or data sharing risk is holding us back from investing in a full-functioning CDP platform, composable CDP may be our answer. A composable CDP can help lower the starting cost by allowing us to unlock the main functions of a complete CDP one by one and utilize each separate function without a one-time full investment. However, this approach would require a mid-size, capable data engineer team. If we don't have that luxury, a full-functioning CDP is a safe choice.I cannot discuss big data without mentioning machine learning and AI (ML/AI). Wielding this right can give any company a product advantage or operational advantage. However, business leaders sometimes don't know data scientists (DS) need infrastructure and business partners to unlock their full strength. Hence, as a data leader, we should advise our top leaders to invest first in the data platform. This would create a solid rocket platform for launching any ML/AI product. Finding the use cases and the right partners for our ML/AI seems to be the next reasonable approach. Or we may waste our DS time looking for where they should put their value effort.In closing, I hope those initiatives inspire and excite us all as they did to me. There will be more depending on the industry, the market you are in, the business model, and the end customers. Exciting as it may be, it is worth mentioning other factors that would influence the success of any data project.(a) Data strategy is a high-level master plan for any successful data journey. (1) Let's press ourselves on what data initiatives would bring our company operational, business, or product advantages. (2) How well they align with company-wide business objectives. (3) What should be the right roadmap for each initiative and the investment cost? Once they are clear to us and aligned with our leaders' vision, it will become our Data Strategy.(b) Undoubtedly, people are at the center of your data journey. Knowing the data maturity of our organization and then recruiting the right roles will set us on the right path. Besides the skillset required by the role and the job, I tend to favor people with an open mindset. I found candidates who are looking for challenges and ready to be challenged would be highly valuable for any data team since that may be what you and the team need to surf above the rapidly changing waves of new technologies and new business requirements. (c) And like any other pillar of digitalization, data analytics requires more than a single team effort. The success of any data project relies on cross-team work and well-defined processes; hence, don't shy away from dragging others from different functions to create a unit team to seize new business opportunities. Uncertainty and doubt can be raised at the beginning, yet I truly believe that consistency and early results would dispel those worries. UNDOUBTEDLY, PEOPLE ARE AT THE CENTER OF YOUR DATA JOURNEY
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