According to World Economic Forum- ‘Data is an economic asset like currency & gold’. Organizations have to become smart to use this valuable asset well. Many organizations are appointing ‘Data Scientists’ these days to leverage on Big Data benefits.Who owns the responsibility and drives initiatives for making the best use of the data, across systems, departments & locations. Shouldn't there be a single person to lead all Big Data initiatives from front…?

1. Why enterprises need a CDO (Chief Data Officer)
-by Sanjay Abraham
Posted on June 3, 2013 • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged Big Data, CDO, Chief Data Officer, Cloudera, Data
Scientist,Hadoop, Sanjay Abraham, techSocial
Enterprises today are striving to excel in the present competitive market environment. With the
advent of Big Data there has emerged a whole new focus & urgency to store, process & analyze the
exponentially growing data. Data is considered an integral part to an enterprise’s growth. This in
recent times is growing too fast. 90% of data we have today is created during last 2 years. Further it
is expected that Enterprise data would grow 650% over next years. Interesting part is 80% of this
data is unstructured. The challenge now before every enterprise is -how efficiently to use this huge
asset to make the enterprise better across functions like marketing, customer service, human
resources etc.
In
an
organization
the
CXO
bracket has the responsibility of
not
only
functions
driving
like
various
Finance,
Technology, IT, Marketing, Sales
etc from the top but also adding
business value to the function.
For example, the role of the CFO
is not just to see the ‘P&L’
accounts but also to see how the
financial resources are best used
to the
organization’s
welfare.
The CFO is a person not only
good at ‘number crunching’ but
also has the ‘Business Acumen’
to utilize the financial resources- to the best for an organizations present financial health and future
growth.
According to World Economic Forum- ‘Data is an economic asset like currency & gold’. Organizations
have to become smart to use this valuable asset well. Many organizations are appointing ‘Data
Scientists’ these days to leverage on Big Data benefits. Data Scientists are not expected to be the
generic analytics guys with some extra Hadoop skills. This role demands much more than that- as
Data Scientists not only ‘deduces or infer’ but also predict. They are not just reactive but proactive &

2. consultative. Their work is not just about real time rather its right time. Further this role also demands
skills to recommend findings to the organization’s leadership structure. They should have the ‘business
understanding’ and the consultative skills to advice on various business problems. The understanding
of the business problem lies in the understanding of the industry itself- so domain/ industry
knowledge is also critical. Speed too is important- as things have to be done super fast because
latency is in seconds. Last but not least, data ‘ownership’ is very critical in enterprises. Who owns the
responsibility and drives initiatives for making the best use of the data, across systems, departments
& locations. Shouldn’t there be a single person to lead all Big Data initiatives from front…?
The role of such person by its nature- becomes a leadership role much like any other in the top
bracket in the organization. With the avalanche of data- it’s important to have a holistic approach
towards it. This is possible when it’s driven from top- by the top leadership. We would definitely see
more enterprises appointing CDOs in the coming times.
I am all pumped up to share more on how Big Data Analytics & Data Visualization could
spell value for your enterprise. Let’s clear the farrago and help the enterprise leverage on
Analytics. Am sure the idea intrigues you too. How about giving me a shout?
Sanjay Abraham is an ‘Enterprise Solutions Consulting, Product Marketing & Business
Development’ professional. He staunchly believes, 'Digital Transformation' could
radically change the way business is done today and that presently Enterprises get just
43% value from existing technologies. His areas of expertise & interest include
Enterprise Collaboration & Mobility, EFSS, Analytics, Enterprise Social- Social Business,
Social Intranet, Social Onboarding, Social Communities, Enterprise Innovation
Management, Social Product Life Cycle Management PLM, Social Project
Management, Gamification & Engagement Loyalty.
Sanjay holds a Bachelors in Engineering (Computer Science) and a PG Diploma in Business Management. He has
worked with top names in the IT sector like Avaya GCL & Mahindra Satyam. His client list includes top bracket
names across Banking, Insurance, Retail, Telecom, BPO/ITeS, Public Services and other verticals. His contact
coordinates are:
Linkedin:in.linkedin.com/in/sanjayabraham. Twitter: @asanjay100 email: abraham@ctprd.com
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