Capturing data-related opportunities to improve revenues, boost productivity, and, sometimes, create entirely new businesses puts new demands on companies"”requiring not only new talent and investments in information infrastructure but also significant changes in mind-sets and frontline training. It's becoming apparent that without extra executive horsepower, stoking the momentum of data analytics will be difficult for many organizations.
Because the new horizons available to companies typically span a wide range of functions, including marketing, risk and operations, the C-suite can evolve in a variety of ways. In some cases, the solution will be to enhance the mandate of the chief information, marketing, strategy or risk officer. Other companies may need new roles, such as a chief data officer, chief technical officer, or chief analytics officer, to head up centers of analytics excellence. Daunting as it may seem to rethink top-management roles and responsibilities, failing to do so, given the cross-cutting nature of many data-related opportunities, could well mean jeopardizing top- or bottom-line growth and opening the door to new competitors.
