Published on the 23/02/2016 | Written by Newsdesk

It’s not just internationally that CDOs have emerged as a new chief in the executive suite, as iStart recently established. However, reflecting the novelty of the role, Gartner said CDOs are not necessarily aware of how to successfully design their organisation.

It offered four principles that CDOs should apply when designing their office.

“The organisational design of the office of the CDO must clearly take into account the role that data is expected to play,” said Mario Faria, research VP. “Most CDOs, however, are new to the role and often have little experience with managing large teams or designing and changing organisational structures.”

While a generalisation, it does make some sense, as CDOs are likely to have grown into their role from other data, rather than people, intensive jobs.

Gartner identifies four value propositions for the office of the CDO:

1. CDO Organisation as an Engine Room: The CDO delivers operational data services that are focused on the needs of internal users. It succeeds by monitoring any data market developments and building expertise in data asset usage, information management and analytics.
2. Everyone’s CDO Organisation: The CDO focuses on the needs of the internal users. But there is a strong push for data assets to be used aggressively by business leaders and individual contributors to break through traditional perimeters of business, and to drive transformation and new digital business models.
3. CDO Organisation as a Business Service Provider: The CDO delivers operational data services that are used by internal and external users. The activities are expanded and integrated into a shared-service organisation that runs like a business.
4. CDO Organisation Is the Business: Information is one of the explicit external offerings or is inseparable from the product line. The CDO delivers internal and external data services that drive business transformation and differentiation.

“There’s no one correct way to design a CDO office — its structure and strength depends on how it is used by the evolving organisation,” said Faria.

He noted too, that the CDO organisational design is about people, rather than data. “It is easy enough to think about what kind of CDO an organisation needs in order to meet its business goals, but it can be harder to put in place the right people to deliver on that structure. It’s vital CDOs think critically about what skills and behaviours will be required by the office of the CDO in the short, medium and long term.”