CDOs to Change the Data Sphere

By CIOReview | Tuesday, June 25, 2019

The profession of CDO is rapidly changing and constantly evolving. The CDO's role, in many occasions, is one of the strategically important facets for many organizations and businesses driven by data.

FREMONT, CA: A greater amount of data has been generated in the last two years than in the entire history of humankind. As more organizations start to accept the application of analytics in helping them to participate and gain a more significant view into their customer base, the role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) has gained more traction. Not only as a data collector but also as a strategist, the CDO is accountable for using the data available to drive profitability and revenue within their organization. According to a report by Gartner, it is expected by 2020, only 20 percent of CDOs will report to the CIO.

The CDO’s Role:

Once primarily in charge of data, CDOs are now expected to handle the transformation of data into the mechanism that drives the organization. Of course, the CDO’s role was initially created following the recognition that data is an asset. Now, with the potential of Big Data continuing to blow up, this calls for new approaches and enhanced data management solutions for CDOs as well as other data science experts.

According to reports, as a vast amount of data continued to proliferate at a phenomenal rate, data sources branched out, and as more and more use cases for data monetization turned out to be apparent, the role of the CDO was forced to expand. For CDOs to carry out their new duties, data visibility is the key. The conventional methods of working with metadata, including uniform files and application incorporation, add some transparency to murky databases but are not adequate to resolve all visibility challenges.

CDOs must also be able to maneuver past challenges of strict data privacy regulations. On top of battling past policies, they also have to reflect on protecting databases against hacking and consequent breaches. As data sprawl gets more and more of a headache, many data leaders and CDOs are also turning to smart data discovery solutions to achieve their data goals.