Big Data: Understanding How Data Powers Big Business

Chapter 6

Creating the Big Data Strategy

One of the key challenges IT organizations face in building support for a big data initiative is to ensure that the big data initiative is valued by, or of value to, the business stakeholders. Unfortunately, business stakeholders have become numb to the IT promises of the next great technology “silver bullet.” They are hesitant to believe that another new technology is going to solve all of their data and analytic problems. Time and time again, the business stakeholders have been misled about the ease-of-use and the capabilities of these new technologies. This has led to walls being built between the IT and business teams.

You are now going to be introduced to a document that will ensure the business relevance of your big data initiative. While this exercise is not trivial, it does provide a repeatable process and framework to ensure that your big data efforts support the business's key initiatives. The document enforces a discipline that any organization can follow, as long as you truly understand and are focused on your organization's key business initiatives. The document is:

• Concise in that it fits onto a single page so that anyone can review it quickly to ensure they are working on the top priority items.
• Clear in defining what the organization and individuals need to do and accomplish in order to achieve the targeted strategic initiatives.
• Relevant to the business stakeholders by starting and focusing the process on supporting the ...