By mbretous@hubspot.com (Martina Bretous)

Data can be a scary word.

It shouldn’t be, but it is. Mostly because people struggle with how to manage it.

Many companies have reached the point where they have so much data, they don’t know where to go next. Others believe they are so small, there’s no need to invest in an enterprise data strategy.

The truth is, regardless of the size of your company and the current state of your data, you will benefit from implementing a data strategy.

To help you get started, we’ve enlisted the expertise of Zosia Kossowski, the group product manager for the business intelligence team at HubSpot (i.e. our in-house data strategy expert.)

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll have a better idea of your company’s current data maturity level, what factors to consider before you build your strategy, and some steps to help along the way.

Despite popular belief, an enterprise data strategy isn’t solely for big companies with large volumes of data. In fact, small businesses can benefit from investing in a data strategy early on and set the foundation that will help them scale.

Benefits of an Enterprise Data Strategy

The common pitfall many organizations face is that while they are collecting a lot of data, every team is interpreting it in their own way. There’s no standard reporting method and each team might be reporting a different value for the same metric.

This means that everyone ends up with different data with no clear understanding of what’s accurate. When there’s no single source of truth, it becomes incredibly difficult to trust your data and pull valuable insights.

“Data doesn’t just exist in a silo,” said Kossowski. “The marketing team is not just going to use marketing-specific data that no other team has any influence over. They’re going to want to pull information from different areas as well.”

She continues, “And so, an element of governance and standardization and a common language is really important in making sure that those teams can communicate with one another.”

So, by implementing an EDS, you prevent information silos, allow for trust in the data, and enable decision making.

What To Consider When Building an Enterprise Data Strategy

1. Your Current Data Maturity Level

The first thing Kossowski recommends doing before building out your strategy is a self-assessment.

Ask yourself: Where does your company fall in the data maturity stage?

Dell has a widely used “Data Maturity Model” that helps companies determine how data-driven their company actually is. There are four stages:

• Data aware – Your company has not standardized its reporting system and there’s no integration between your systems, data sources, and databases. Plus, there’s a lack of trust in the data itself.
• Data proficient – There’s still a lack of trust in the data, specifically its quality. You may have invested in a data warehouse but there are still some pieces missing.
• Data savvy – Your company is empowered to make …read more

  Source:: HubSpot Blog

        

  

  Author: Aaron