By Alan Duncan
Chief Data and Analytics Officers (CDAOs) acknowledge the need for data-driven decision making in business. However, connecting this need to tangible business advantages and outcomes can be challenging. This disconnect hinders stakeholder acceptance and backing for data and analytics (D&A) strategies.
Gartner’s CDAO Agenda Survey for 2024 reveals that 62% of CDAOs state that their primary responsibility is engaging with stakeholders and aligning expectations. However, without a clearly defined value proposition, business stakeholders may be hesitant to approve and support D&A initiatives. Therefore, CDAOs cannot rely on vague statements about “improved decision making” when presenting the business rationale for D&A.
To truly lead and develop stakeholder buy-in, CDAOs must sell the D&A strategy to the business community. This involves identifying and communicating two key aspects: the desired business outcomes (the “why”) and the personal impact on the targeted stakeholders (the “for whom”).
CDAO must take into consideration the following steps to influence stakeholders and persuade them to make progress:
Step 1: Set a Strong Vision That Resonates with Your Stakeholders
The first step in any D&A business case is to describe a positive vision that connects both rationally and emotionally to stakeholders’ aspirations. People are emotional decision makers. They choose subconsciously, based largely on their personal sentiment, and then seek a detailed rationale to substantiate the emotional response. Thus, proposals must get stakeholders to care.
To create a compelling proposal, CDAOs must present positive outcomes that benefit both individual stakeholders and the organization as a whole. CDAOs must take these recommendations into consideration when crafting an engaging proposal:
- Set a positive and compelling view of the desired end state that will resonate with the engaged group– The vision must focus on the business impact and outcomes arising from an analytic approach, rather than any project deliverables, outputs or tasks.
- Tie the soft benefits that arise from a more-analytic approach to an actionable, measurable hard outcome– Ideally, the hard outcome should have a value-based or financial impact.
- Align with and inform corporate KPIs– Be explicit in expressing how business outcomes will be measured. Propose a design for business KPIs that encourages the desired benefits, focusing on leading indicators.
Step 2: Be Honest, Resilient and Courageous in Calling Out Inhibitors
Delivering new strategies and solutions for D&A is not easy, as organizational, political, and social factors may hinder successful implementation. The view of the inhibitors should follow the view of the new outcomes and value. First, give your stakeholders the positive and inspiring view of how things can be measurably better (where you want to be). Then, introduce the factors that must be overcome (how you can get there) to achieve those desired outcomes. Calling out the unspoken barriers to success and proposing a positive way forward can be especially helpful in brokering mutually agreeable solutions between contentious parties. Being explicit about the reasons for previous failures requires honesty, resilience and courage. It also requires sensitivity.
Step 3: Use D&A Solution Blueprints to Trace Business Outcomes Back to Underlying Data
The solution blueprint for the D&A business case must offer a more consumable view that both engages stakeholders and helps them understand the overall solution approach. In effect, it serves as both a marketing view and an architectural view. It still articulates the overall information supply chain, but in terms that matter to the business stakeholder community.
The solution proposal helps highlight the value of the data being provisioned, including any opportunities and risks that may currently accrue within any particular scenario. It also enables the team to identify new uses for existing data and to deduce any current gaps in available data.
Step 4: Present the High-Level D&A Delivery Roadmap in Business Terms
The delivery roadmap for the D&A business case should typically be presented as a simplified timeline. For the D&A roadmap timeline, the emphasis is on presenting:
- A simple timeline with key milestones for major business-facing D&A solution deliverables
- Any specific activities that directly involve input from business stakeholders
- Any critical dependencies on underlying foundational deliverables or enabling capabilities.
Whenever possible, avoid drilling into the underlying activities and tasks at this point. You typically do not need to expose that level of detail to sell the business case.
Gartner analysts will be discussing best practices for D&A initiatives at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit, taking place April 24-25 in Mumbai, India.
(The author is Alan Duncan, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, and the views expressed in this article are his own)
