About the Book
Table of Contents:
Foreword
Introduction
PART 1 Thinking Differently
1 A New Approach
The business ecosystem
Data means business, business means data
Creating the data-guided business
Data products and services
Introducing the Level Up Framework
PART 2 Getting Off The Ground
2 Establish The Agenda
It’s a bit of a mess
Educate and tell stories
Build out your strategy
Understand stakeholder buy-in
Create a starter team
Build the case and get investment
Communication as an agent for change
Establish the Agenda: the breakthrough criteria
3 Prove Value
Gaining credibility
New concepts need a new mindset
Build and activate a data product
Rapid provision of insights
Putting in place foundational capabilities
Building your minimum efficient organisation
Initiating your new approach and ceremonies
Putting in place starter technology and architecture that can scale
Communication: the ‘rule of seven’
Prove Value: the breakthrough criteria
PART 3 Growth And Impact
4 Scale
To self-service or not to self-service
Agility × collaboration = adaptability
Set up team for scaling
From rigid to cross-functional organisational design
Value-driven prioritisation
Building an adaptable data platform
Building reusable components
Sorting out who owns the data
Adaptive data management as a service
Scale: the breakthrough criteria 183
5 Accelerate
To accelerate at scale
Technology enablement
DataOps and automation
Refresh your organisation
How has the culture changed?
Federated data knowledge
Monetising data externally
Accelerate: the breakthrough criteria
6 Optimise
Introducing the data native
The final stage
Data native story: SportPursuit
Data native story: Gousto
PART 4 Defining And Delivering Your Strategy
7 Plotting And Tracking Your Journey
Six pillars of a data strategy
Relationship between data, information and business strategy
Putting your data strategy together
Plotting the journey and building the roadmap
The Level Up Framework as a planning tool
Measure and monitor progress
The modern chief data officer
Reality check and looking forward
Acknowledgements
Jason Foster
Barry Green
The Authors
Jason Foster
Barry Green
About the Author :
Jason Foster is a business leader and entrepreneur. He has helped thousands of people to understand and activate their data in order to achieve business value. Barry Green has worked as a chief data officer in multiple organisations and is passionate about championing the need for innovative data leadership. Between them, the authors have decades of experience in defining and delivering data strategies with a mission to improve the way we think about the role of data in business.
Review :
‘I loved this book, so much of it resonates with me and is an articulation of my own journey of data discovery over the years. This is not just a book for chief data officers and data management leads as it says in the intro, this is a handbook for any and all CXOs who have responsibility for or an interest in data – and that is ALL of them.’
Lorraine Waters, Chief Data Officer, Global Compliance, HSBC and Top 100 Global Data Power Women 2020
‘There has been a gold rush recently of CDO handbooks to feed the professional development of CDOs and aspiring CDOs. Data Means Business is THE handbook, not just for the senior data leaders, but the whole executive team who need to get with the data programme. Perhaps then, they can catch up with the new kids on the block, who have data as their heart and brain.’
Graeme McDermott, Chief Data Officer, Tempcover
‘Intelligent, witty and insightful. Barry and Jason eloquently discuss the challenging nature of business with the complexity of organisational culture to beautifully illustrate a framework to release value and create advantage from data that you may already hold. A must-read for all navigating the perilous economy of a post-COVID-19 world.’
Johanna Hutchinson, Director of Data and Data Science, Joint Biosecurity Centre, Test and Trace, Dept of Health and Social Care; DataIQ Top 10 Most Influential People in Data 2021
‘A must-read for finance leaders to learn the latest thinking around data in business.’
Patrick Marrinan, Finance Director, Pho (Restaurant Group)
‘Data Means Business takes the reader through a practical journey, arming executives with a toolkit and clear guidance on how to succeed with data. The book avoids jargon and provides a path to embracing what data can mean for individuals, their organisations and future transformation that could mean the different between failure, survival and prospering.’
Jagpal Jheeta, CIO across multiple industries including retail, logistics and financial services
‘When a caterpillar turns first into a larva and then into a butterfly, it has realised its destiny. When a business first “gets” data and then becomes data-guided, it can transform its own fortunes. With the frameworks in this book, you can accelerate that evolution and shorten the time between enabling yourself with data and creating value. To steal a phrase, this book gives you wings!’
David Reed, Knowledge and Strategy Director, DataIQ
‘The next time someone in your organization tells you that your data strategy can wait, just refer them to this book. It’s a compelling read for those leaders seeking to truly unlock the value of data and evolve their organizations. Data Means Business converts the readers into data advocates.’
Gustavo Canton, Analytics Leader, Starbucks
‘Those businesses that ignore the value in data, or just pay it lip service, either won’t be around for long or won’t realise their ambitions. Many firms just don’t know how to go about this and this book is aimed squarely at tackling that problem. Data Means Business really gets to the heart of this incredibly important topic, does so in a clear and jargon-free manner and shows how organisations can approach the change in a structured way that will deliver sustainable results. A must read!’
Darren Sharp, Group IT Director, Tokio Marine Kiln
‘Jason and Barry leverage the benefit of years of experience across hundreds of professional data engagements to draw up a framework anyone can use to harness and drive the advantages of data-guided decision making. This focused and easily digested book should be on the shelf of anyone leading a data transformation. Merging deep-sector expertise and the lessons from lean start-ups, they present their Level Up Framework that is easy-to-follow, easy-to-communicate and, hopefully, an easier route to driving business value from their data asset.’
Pete Williams, Data Evangelist and Top 100 influencer in data
‘Data, like money, is the most important asset of any organisation. Sadly, the data profession is a newborn compared to its grandparent – the finance profession. Organisations are waking up to the importance of data, but the immaturity of the data sector means only an elite few are able to really grasp the opportunities. With this influential book, Jason and Barry have created an anchor guide for the profession. The authors are levelling up the playing field with this practical guide for all leaders who understand they need to create data capability, but don’t know what good looks like. Just read this and you will.’
Omid Shiraji, Portfolio Chief Information Officer
‘Only a few evangelist and internal entrepreneurs know how to marshal all the right resources across the right dimensions and in the right way. However, by using the ideas in this book we can start to make broader and real change.’
Devin Deen, Associate Partner, Servian
‘Data is the lifeblood of an organisation; like cashflow, without it your organisation won’t survive, won’t grow and won’t flourish. Understanding your data, and the ecosystem it moves within, gives you an opportunity to drive differentiation and gain advantage on your savannah. In this book, Barry and Jason provide a simple and easily understood way to start understanding and using data better. A must-read for all senior leaders.’
Max Bailey, Director, Lace Partners and ex Accenture Partner
‘A great guide which I would highly recommend to all Chief Data Officers, future Heads of Data and business leaders to help them on their data journey. Unlike some guides which use technical jargon readily, Data Means Business instead offers simple steps to deliver an effective data-led organisation.’
Katie Hevey, Digital & Data Practice Leader, Leathwaite
