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Each strategy and tactic of the organization is
comprised of a number of factors that are
brought together for the explicit purpose of
successfully executing a value proposition.
These factors can be the partners and resources
participating in the strategy and tactic, the
customers, the delivery methods, the cost
structure and other factors. For the purpose of
this paper, we will use the Business Model
Canvas, as described in Value Proposition
Design (Alexander Osterwalder, 2014).
Rivers of information flow through the Business
Model Canvas, and when collaborated among
the actors participating in a specific strategy or
tactic, influence the success or failure of a value
proposition. This influence is the measurable
value of the intangible information asset.
Data in the form of innovations, knowledge,
heard inferences and learned inferences is
rarely used directly. While the value of
information is measurable, it is somewhat more
difficult to directly or indirectly measure the
value of data. Data is the raw material for the
finished goods of information, but just like other
intangible assets, only obtains value through its
usage.
The value of information is enhanced when it is
used in critical situations. For example,
information that helps Apple thwart off the next
great competitor to the iPhone is worth much
more than information used to produce a
standard analysis. Generally, the more critical
situation presented, the shorter the lifespan of
the increased value for information. In the
equity markets, there is high value for
information that is immediate and very little
value for information that is 15 minutes old.
There are a number of core competencies which
an organization must possess in order to be able to
associate the CDO’s activities of influencing the
value proposition processes through the use of
information. Some of these key competencies,
which we will discuss further include:
The CDO Revenue Recognition
Roadmap
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Treating information as an intangible asset of
the organization. Just like organizations which
manage patents or digital assets, a function
specifically devised to manage the information
assets of an organization must be in place.
Understanding the potential role that
information can be used to generate captured,
extended, protected or created value for the
organization. A clear understanding of the
business processes that yield value propositions
and revenue for the organization and the
information that supports that process is
required. The business model canvas has been
chosen as the vehicle to describe the business
processes and the supporting information due
to its simplicity to construct and explain.
Identifying the high value usage of information
and ensure their inclusion in the business
processes. These are commonly the most
disruptive threads in a business model and often
represent mis-executions of the business
processes, fraud or disruptions that require re-
innovation of the business model.
Mitigating the items that constrict the
obtainable value from business processes. The
common items can be:
Lack of trustworthy information (while data
quality is a big piece of this equation, there is
no trustworthy information if the
stakeholders of the business processes do not
believe it to be trustworthy).
An environment where it is difficult to find the
relevant information in time for it to be used
(fostering an environment where all the data
everyone would possibly need is not
necessarily a good thing because such an
environment could obfuscate what is critical
at the moment).
Lack of understanding of the derivation,
lineage or provenance of information.
Lack of attribution applied to the information,
making it difficult to understand the context
of the information supporting the business
processes.
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Possessing a process which measures and
communicates the value and associated
revenue attributed to the CDO activities.
Understanding and fostering the interplay of
the participants (the CDO, CIO, DGC and DAM,
all in the preview of this paper) in the
recognition of revenue attributable to
information (which is transformed from data in
the form of innovations, knowledge, heard
inferences and learned inferences).
There will always be value obtained for
information as it is consumed in the strategies
and tactics of the organization. However, few
organizations are prepared to capitalize on the
highly critical and short-lived opportunities
and risks presented through information. The
CDO serves as the catalyst to ensure the
exploitation of information in these cases. This
is done by:
Ensuring the inclusion of high value usage of
information in the strategies and tactics of the
organization.
Devising a mechanism to measure the
contribution of information to the strategies
and tactics of the organization.
There are several barriers to the successful use
of information in high value circumstances,
described in this paper as the information value
levers. The CDO, in concert with the other
leaders of the information assets of the
organization, ensure that the information value
levers facilitate the optimal use of information in
these high value circumstances. The CDO should
own a scorecard that measures the continued
improvement of the information value levers, as
the improvement of the information value levers
is a key measurement in the effectiveness of the
CDO.
The effectiveness of the CDO is measured using
two key metrics.
The influence by the CDO in the consumption
of information in the strategies and tactics of
The CDO as the Catalyst for Enhancing
the Value of Information
Measuring the Effectiveness of the
CDO
the organization. A means to transcribe this
influence is provided in this paper.
The improvement of the information value
levers. A more comprehensive list of the
information value levers is provided in this
paper.
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Information gains a high percentage of the value
proposition achievable from the strategies and
tactics of the organization. Disruptive use of
information (launching a disruption in the
marketplace or influencing the outcome of a
disruption launched elsewhere) captures a
disproportionate percentage of the value
proposition.
1
In the Big Bang Disruption , 12 steps are described in
which a disruption manifests itself to an
organization’s value proposition. The effect of the
disruption is a function on the organization’s ability
to wield information. It is only through the effective
yielding of information that the disruptions can be
successfully identified and then translated to the
necessary changes to processes utilized to yield
organization value. It is only through the proper
managing of the influencers of data and the
effective relationships between the CDO, DAM, DGC
and the CIO that this can be achieved.
The CDO will be accountable for reporting the
incremental value achieved by the use of
information influenced by the CDO and the cost
expended to influence the extraction of information
value.
1
Big Bang Disruption, Strategy in the age of Devastating
Innovation, Downes and Nunes, 2014
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Information Value
Value Proposition
Maximum Value
Achieved Value
Major data levers
limiting attainable
value are magnified
in time critical
situations
Effectiveness of
data governance
Information
trustworthiness
Ability to easily
identify appropriate
information
Full attribution
of Information
Information
provenance
Information use
accelerator
effectiveness
Collaboration
effectiveness
Figure 2 | The Value Achievable from Information
Disruptive
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
4. Transcribing the CDO's influence of
enterprise value
In order to transcribe the CDO’s influence of
enterprise value, the mapping of information to
the value propositions of the organization and the
derivation of this consumed information must be
completed. The CDO should be responsible for:
Mapping the information targeted for
consumption in a business model canvas (the
representation of the strategies and tactics of
the organization).
Deriving the data required to have the
necessary information available for
consumption just in time for business events
triggering the use of business model canvases.
Measuring the impediments to ensure just in
time availability of information and timely
execution of the enterprise strategies and
tactics.
An effective CDO will be measured by their ability
to influence the high value usage of information.
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The net profit achieved by the CDO’s activities are
the difference between the value achieved by the
intangible information assets of the organization
and the cost of ensuring the usability of this
information through governance, data quality,
metadata, lineage and other programs which
mitigate the challenges that thwart the use of
information in high profile circumstances.
Some examples of real high profile circumstances:
The valuation risk associated with negative
international press coverage caused by a
manufacturing defect in automotive ignition
switches.
The successful market capture of a large block
of cell phone customers by eliminating their
contractual obligations to obtain device
discounts.
The successful thwarting of an SEC audit and
associated press coverage caused by
undetected trade irregularities not surfaced in
compliance reporting.
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Figure 3 | 12 Steps of the Big Bang Disruption Cycle, Big Bang Disruption, 2014
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— Consult with Visionaries (CDO enabled)
— Separate little bumps from disruptions (big bangs)
— Innovate to determine strategies to thwart
disruptions
— Alter the processes deriving a value proposition
— Be the winner take all in the markets
— Slow the process of disruptors in the
marketplace
— Anticipate Saturation
— Shed assets before they become liabilities
— Abandon value propositions where success is not
viable
— Escape your own black hole
— Transform some value propositions to suppliers
— Return to a new singularity
Disruption
Start
(The singularity)
The Disruption
(The Big Bang)
Returning to
Equilibrium
(The Big Crunch)
Entropy
5. There are several activities all of which will be new
to the organization and should be tracked to
determine if the measurement of information
influence on the processes that derive
organizational value are effective. These new
activities require a coordination of the processes
used to capture, create, extend and protect
organizational value, and the information used to
derive this organizational value and the data
transformed to serve as the consumed
information. There are four organizational roles,
some may exist in today’s organization, including
the Chief Data Officer (CDO), the Data Asset
Manager (DAM), the Data Governance Council
(DGC) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Metrics should be created on the factors that limit
the use of information and the effective
coordination of the CDO, the DAM, the DGC and
the CIO.
Furthermore, the recording of value influenced by
information and the resultant revenue must be
recorded for the entire justification of the
investment made to ensure the optimal use of
information through the efforts of the CDO, DAM,
DGC and CIO. Metrics to measure the revenue
attributed to information usage as a percentage of
organizational revenue should be created. This
Each of these examples require swift use of information to either capitalize on market opportunities or
thwart risks exposed through the successful use of information.
process needs to be followed to measure the
effective participation of the CDO and to record
revenue attributable to the efforts of the CDO.
There are technology, people and process
contributors that influence the valuation of
information. All of them are vehicles that, when
successfully implemented, facilitate the use of
information just in time for the execution of
strategies and tactics of the organization and the
successful identification and capitalization of
opportunities and risks associated with the
strategies and tactics of the organization.
Under certain circumstances, there may be
situations where a disruption has occurred in the
marketplace which is not covered by any of the
business models of the organization. In such
cases, a process for business model innovation,
which is itself one of the information value levers,
is engaged to modify the strategies and tactics of
the organization to fit the new market realities. In
such cases, information may have to be
formulated on the fly to fit the new strategies and
tactics. While such ‘just in time’ transformation
capabilities are rare, these are especially valuable
to the organization when such opportunities and
risks present themselves.
Improving the Information Value Levers
Figure 4 | Data Map a Business Model Canvas
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Business Model Canvas (BMC) Data Map
Protected Value
(Risk Remediation)
Captured Value
(New Relationships)
Extended Value
(Extend
Relationships)
Created Value
(Successfully
Innovate)
BMC
Value Proposition
How Value is Identified
What activities are
triggered to
achieve the value
proposition
Information that
triggers the executed
events
The derivation of this
information
The source data
consumed
6. The Participants in Influencing
Enterprise Value through the use of
Information
There are several participants who have a stake
in influencing the value of information, and
thereby, play a role in the revenue attained by the
Chief Data Officer. These participants are the
CDO, DAM, DGC and CIO. The reporting
relationships for each of the four roles will vary
based on the industry and organization.
The CDO, DAM, DGC and CIO, all play a pivotal
role in effectively influencing the value of
information as an intangible asset consumed in
the strategies and tactics of the organization.
The Business Model Canvas (discussed in this
paper) and the BMC Data Map (also discussed in
this paper) are the vehicles to map the
consumption of value to the value propositions
of the organization as a means to determine
the maximum value achievable through the use
of information.
It is important to note that while the availability
of data is critical to the use of information in the
strategies and tactics of the organization (as
mapped out in the BMC Data Map), data of and
by itself achieves no value for the organization.
Just like the intangible patent assets of an
organization have potential value which is
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achieved by the royalties attained or the use of
the patent to deliver goods and services to a
customer, the intangible data assets of the
organization are consumed in the strategies and
tactics of the organization and achieve value as
mapped in the BMC Data Map.
It is the responsibility of the Chief Data Officer to
identify and record the achieved intangible
information asset valuations accomplished and
the cost of transforming the raw data materials
into finished goods inventory.
It is the responsibility of the data governance
council to identify, prioritize and remediate
impediments that lessen the achievable value
for consumed information, such as its
trustworthiness, full attribution and other data
levers associated with the use of the
information.
It is the responsibility of the CIO to ensure the
execution of the priorities identified by the data
governance council to optimize the achievable
value for information.
And finally it is the responsibility of the data
asset manager to manage the raw data and
finished goods information assets of the
organization.
Figure 5 | Typical Information Value Levers impacting the value of information
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Information and Data Value Influencers
Technology Contributors People Contributors Process Contributors
— Collaboration Aids
— Measurement Aids
— Reference Data
— Attribution / Metadata
— Active Taxonomy
— Information / Context
integration
— Workflow
— Consolidation Aids
— Big Data Management Aids
— Governance Aids
— Infrastructure Aids
— Actionability Aids
— Expired Data Removal Aids
— Information Lifecycle Mgmt.
— Information Transparency Aids
— Operational Data Quality
— MDM Isolation
— Sharable Environment
— Information Attribution
— Non-Expiration Assurance
— JIT Accessible Assurance
— Trustworthy Assurance
— Actionability Aids Effectiveness
— Non-Reliance on Local Data
— Willingness to Share
— Sponsorship
— Readiness
— Orchestration
— Effective CDO optimization of
information used to derive
organizational value
— Effective Data Asset Mgmt
— Effectiveness of identification &
prioritization of material changes to
critical data elements
— Accurate mapping of information to
business model canvas
— Active process to ensure alignment of
information taxonomy and current
organization informational needs
— Process/Organization Fit
— Identification Effectiveness
— Ownership Assignment Effectiveness
— Strategy Derivation Effectiveness
— Collaborative Executing Effectiveness
— Feedback Measurement Effectiveness
— Executed Actions fine tuning
Effectiveness
7. It is the interplay of the CDO, CIO, DGC and DAM that the net incremental revenue achievable from
information for the organization is attainable.
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Chief Data
Officer
Data Asset
Manager
Data
Governance
Council
Chief
Information
Officer
Influence the optimal mix of
information consumed in
creating, extending, capturing
and protecting organizational
value.
Manage the inventory of
the raw materials (data)
and finished goods
inventory (information)
available to the
decisioning processes
Influence the attributes of
data that improve its
identification, usefulness,
trustworthiness and
actionability
Own the processes that
create and acquire data
for the organization and
execute activities
identified by the others
that systematically
improve the value of data
Management of Data and the
synthesis of information
Influence the uses of information and
ensure the availability by mapping to data
In summary, two things that every CDO should consider as critical paths in the years ahead are to
understand and advocate that:
Information should be treated as an intangible asset of the organization.
The CDO is in a position to be the catalyst for enhancing the value of information.
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Figure 6 | The Roles participating in influencing information value
