Episode 4: Data is the New Currency

Data is the new currency of business. We hear that constantly and it is an accurate description of the value that data provides for the successful operation of a business.  Put simply, organizations with “better” data management and use it more effectively, win in the market.  This blog summarizes a recent podcast that featured Graeme Thompson, CIO of Informatica. 

Mr. Thompson started the podcast with an example that drives home the differences between how data and currency are managed in companies today.  A simple comparison of how a CIO and a CFO would answer four key questions set the tone. 

• When the CFO is asked “do you know where all your currency is stored?”, the quick answer is yes.  The CIO can’t say the same for the data.
• If asked, “can you categorize all of your currency?”, the CFO nods in the affirmative, but the CIO knows that many data labels are vague or inaccurate.
• Asking the CFO if they know who has access to currency, they are certain they do.  The CIO cannot say the same for corporate data.
• Finally, when asked if currency can be directed for the most profitable use by the company, the CFO can make a positive assertion.  The CIO knows this is not the case.

These four questions provide the foundation for a strategy to enhance the management of data and creating a data platform that enables an organization to leverage it. 

Taking this strategic view of the data asset and making the data the platform for a successful business is also a fundamental change in the role of the CIO.  Rather than focusing on terabytes, cloud services, or how many laptops are in use, a CIO that is focusing on delivering accurate, documented, consistent, managed, and secured data becomes part the firm’s strategic discussions.  This is a fundamental change that enables the CIO to get “a seat at the table”. 

Informatica is enabling this trend with their Intelligent Data Management Cloud, an end-to-end data management platform that acts as the unifying force for making data the currency of your organization.  For more information on how you can create a data platform that gives the organization the same certainty for its information as it has for its money, visit our website.