This document summarizes interviews with data leaders about challenges they face and best practices for delivering value from data. It discusses three key steps data leaders take: 1) collaborating for an enterprise-wide data strategy, 2) developing skills internally through training programs, and 3) increasing data sharing and integration. Examples are given of how data leaders in industries like insurance, manufacturing, and healthcare have used these steps to drive business benefits such as reducing fraud and accelerating clinical trials.

1. © 2015 IBM Corporation
Teaching organizations to fish in a data-rich future:
Stories from data leaders
July 2015

2. © 2015 IBM Corporation
Analytics assessments conducted by the IBM Center for Applied Insights
have identified challenges and best practices for data leaders
2
Get to know your
chief data officer
Leading practices
from data leaders
Building data
science capabilities
Explores obstacles in
establishing the chief data
officer (CDO) role and
captures the value the CDO
brings to help the business
become data-driven
Identifies business benefits
realized by organizations led
by highly skilled data leaders
and leading practices for
delivering value through data
Establishes a success formula
for integrating a data science
capability within an
organization and measures its
value as a source for
competitive advantage

3. © 2015 IBM Corporation
Many organizations are still early in their journey to set up and optimize their
analytics function and related capabilities
3 © 2015 IBM Corporation
1“Extend Your Portfolio of Analytics Capabilities” Gartner 2013
2 http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/idc-the-digital-universe-in-2020.pdf

4. © 2015 IBM Corporation
Organizations at the forefront are investing in highly skilled data leaders and
moving ahead rapidly to capture new value from data
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Chief data officers, chief analytics
officers, data scientists and analytics
executives acting in these roles

5. © 2015 IBM Corporation© 2015 IBM Corporation
Organizations at the forefront are investing in highly skilled data leaders and
moving ahead rapidly to capture new value from data
5

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Those steered by data leaders are seeing business benefits…
6
A research institute
implemented a four-step
analytics endorsement
process that drove the
success rate of clinical
research up 30%
An insurance firm
discovered patterns in
claims information to
decrease fraud, worth
$90 million per one
percent in reduction
A manufacturing company
generated an extra $2M
in revenue through newly
built tools that predict
customer needs
A major city synthesized
data sources to predict
early release prisoners’
propensity to re-commit
a crime
A contract research
organization built an
advanced platform for
clinical data integration that
cuts patient recruitment
period by six months
A hospital accelerated
appointments for patients
based on their forecasted
likelihood for
pre-admission

7. © 2015 IBM Corporation
…And the wins that data leaders have orchestrated have helped build
credibility and driven the demand for greater capacity
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8. © 2015 IBM Corporation
To achieve data-driven success, data leaders need to help the business by
overcoming challenges, taking new approaches and driving action
8
Collaboration is key when
helping the business
leverage data as a strategic
asset. Data initiatives are
most successful when
business stakeholders are
included in the transition
process and clearly
understand the end
benefits.
Companies can dream of
cutting-edge analytical
capabilities, but those goals
will remain imaginary
without the personnel to
execute their vision. To
combat the dearth of
available talent, data
leaders have started
training their existing
employees.
Companies cannot unlock
the full potential of their
information if it is isolated in
disparate locations. By
allowing for the
combination of data
sources, businesses are
unlocking new insights.
The payoff: Better business outcomes

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Data leaders help the business make data a priority in order to leverage it
as a strategic business asset
10
Undervaluation of data
“As more data is available to the business, there are going to be missed opportunities
and innovations because the business just doesn’t understand the data or the value
of the data it has.”
– CDO, Finance
Collaborate for an enterprise-wide data strategy
“We’re trying to go to leadership and figure out what’s critical to their operations. We
ask about timeliness, consistency and usability. Those teams are now more
energized to partner.”
– VP of Enterprise Data Management, Healthcare
Seek endorsement from executive sponsors
“I formed a global leadership team roughly representing our 12 top offices in terms of
revenue by determining the local data and analytics leaders – who’s the subject
matter expert, who has the most client experience, who has the right social
expertise? So that's working really, really well.”
– CDO, Media and Advertising

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A media CDO earned buy-in from local leaders to create an enterprise-wide
data strategy that is seamlessly applied in new offices
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Data leaders seek and develop skillsets from within in order to execute
their vision
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Shortage of the right data talent
“We’re looking for people who have that combo package – who have that mindset of
an analyst and the technical skills of a developer.”
– VP of Enterprise Data Management, Healthcare
Look for potential, not perfection
“We’re going to find people who want to learn. If they can have three out of five of the
key skills and show aptitude in the other two, then we’ll take the time to train them.”
– VP of Enterprise Architecture, Insurance
Create learning opportunities
“This past fall, we launched a Data Academy. It’s basically a training curriculum on
anything from Excel all the way up to information design, data management or data
usability. Every class is booked out with waiting lists – people love them.”
– CDO, major US city

14. © 2015 IBM Corporation
A government CDO created a data academy to develop skills and
standardize analytical capabilities across a decentralized team
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Data leaders free the data and allow for the combination of data sources to
uncover insights
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Insufficient utilization of data
“You’d think we have a 360-degree view of our customers, but we really don’t. We
know what policies and claims we have, but we can’t link all of that information
without having to dive into ten different systems.”
– VP of Enterprise Architecture, Insurance
Increase sharing of data
“Know what data exists, be able to effectively and efficiently access that data, and
then be able to get to it effectively. This capability falls in the knowledge bucket.”
– CDO, major US city
Invest in holistic data solutions
“Our tool gives immediate, contextualized and integrated access to all the data, past
and present, operational and clinical, in one place, from anywhere on the planet, any
minute of the day. If you use this information wisely, you can save six months on a
clinical trial.”
– CDO, Pharmaceuticals

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A CDO at a research organization designed a platform that accelerates
clinical trials, leading to big deals with pharma companies
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Through these 3 steps, data leaders can help their organizations fully
capitalize on their data and achieve better business outcomes
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Through these 3 steps, data leaders can help their organizations fully
capitalize on their data and achieve better business outcomes
1919 © 2015 IBM Corporation

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Appendix
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21. © 2015 IBM Corporation
For participant companies, big data
and analytics is a significant area of
focus and investment relative to other
business imperatives
Industries included insurance,
manufacturing, healthcare, government
and pharmaceuticals
Our research highlights leading practices from data leaders to help
executives acting in these roles deliver value through their efforts
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Qualitative study
10 in-depth phone interviews with
US-based Data Leaders – chief data
officers, chief analytics officers, and
BD&A executives acting in these roles

22. © 2015 IBM Corporation
The payoff: Better business outcomes
Achieving data-driven success:
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Undervaluation
of data
Collaborate for an
enterprise-wide
data strategy
Seek endorsement
from executive
sponsors
Shortage of
the right data
talent
Look for potential,
not perfection
Create learning
opportunities
Insufficient
utilization of data
Increase sharing
of data
Invest in
holistic data
solutions

23. © 2015 IBM Corporation
Learn more:
23
Your chief data officer:
Re-imagining the business of data
The transformative power of data and
analytics is being harnessed by
organizations to make smarter, quicker
and more analytically-informed decisions.
At the helm of this transformation is the
Chief Data Officer – a strategic leader
who employs data and analytics to create
tangible business value.
The IBM Center for Applied Insights
spoke in-depth with executives to learn
how CDOs are making a difference within
organizations.
Download the study
(403KB)
 IBMCAI Blog – CDO
THINKLEADERS
CDO strategies for success
in a new era of big data and
advanced analytics
 Big Data & Analytics
Hub for CDOs
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