Whether you’re a big data giant like Facebook or Google, or a small, family-run business, all smart business starts with strategy. And these days, every company, big or small, in any industry, needs a solid data strategy.

There are millions of ways data can help a business but, broadly speaking, they fall into two categories: one is using data to improve your existing business and how you make business decisions. The second is using data to transform your day-to-day business operations. In practice, most companies start out wanting to improve their decision making and take it from there. However, if you want to use data, you must always start with a data strategy. What data you gather and how you analyse it will depend entirely on what you’re looking to achieve – so you need to have thought about this at the outset. Having a data strategy helps the whole process run more smoothly and prepares you and your people for the journey ahead.

Tips for Creating a Robust Data Strategy

Getting the key company players and decision makers involved will help you create a better data strategy overall, and getting their buy-in at this crucial early stage means they’re more likely to put all that data to good use later on.

Keep in mind that, like any business improvement process, things may shift or evolve along the way. You may find that your data points to interesting new questions that you want to explore or leads to modifications to your existing data strategy. If that happens, simply revisit your data strategy, re-evaluating each of the points below in turn. 

Connect your data strategy with the business strategy

With any good data strategy, buy-in matters. Your date strategy framework functions only when that vision is managed, supported and monetized in tandem with the overall goals of the organization.

To align business and date priorities, you need a clear understanding of the aims of the organization and senior leadership. Meeting with C-suite and business stakeholders is the first step in helping your organization reach its objectives by embracing data as a true competitive advantage. “It really all starts and ends with, what business problem are you trying to tackle?” says Dr. Rania Khalaf, Chief Information and Data Officer at Inari.