How to build a data-centric organization

Establishing a data-driven culture is key for business innovation and creating a data-driven culture is a challenge that many organizations have to face. However, the payoff is one of increased business competitiveness, optimized organizational efficiency, and commercial innovation to stay ahead of the curve.

In fact, a study conducted by Forrester in March 2021 and commissioned by Eyeota surveyed 300 senior management executives and found that business decision-makers understand that an ethos of data-centricity is imperative for organizations to stay ahead of customer expectations and marketing opportunities. 

A data-centric culture is one where employees view data analytics as integral to the business strategy. Business leaders don’t necessarily need to understand every data analytics step in the organization, but they are responsible for setting the agenda. And that means identifying the business outcomes and measurable value expected from implementation of data analytics and machine learning models in business operations.

All employees must have an enthusiasm to contribute to the organization and be keen to constantly learn new things. There needs to be collaboration between all employees, and everyone must be able to access the data to keep learning on the go.

This means establishing a clear process and the steps involved in encouraging the collaboration between different people in the organization. The processes also ensure that the decisions are data-driven and not made randomly. Technology processes have to do with software and data security. A company with strong technology processes will have an organized way to store and analyze data, and a privacy policy that covers all relevant contingencies. 

Finally, having the right technology capabilities means having the hardware and software you need to store, process, and manage data. This might mean commercial software platforms, or bespoke solutions that are built and managed in-house. We’ll come back to this part in a later blog.

A data-driven culture not only understands and values the use of data in decision-making, but also embraces a culture of innovation and spurs meaningful conversations across departments. The Forrester study found that 77% of decision-makers were keen to build a data-centric culture within their organizations and believed this was an essential strategy in order to be focused on building and maintaining relationships with new and existing customers. 

The study also found that 71% of decision-makers were prioritizing the acquisition of new customers over the course of the coming year, while 82% recognized the need to use their first-party data to consistently improve customer experience.

Companies follow these practices because they have realized how valuable data is and the role that it plays in the success of any business. Smarter use of existing and newly acquired data results in game-changing customer insights and increasing financial gains.

The best place to start is by evaluating how you’re currently doing. You can then take steps to acquire the right resources and fine-tune your internal processes.

Download our Forrester Study Harness First Party Data in Your Onboarding Journey now to explore today's data priorities and practices and how firms must leverage first-party offline data in their customer engagement strategies.