A data strategy has become a vital tool every organization needs. Based on my experience helping companies develop their data strategies, I share my seven components every data strategy must include.

1. How To Create A Data
Strategy:
7 Things Every Business
Must Include

2. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Title
Text
IntroductionIntroduction
Data matters to every business. So it follows that every business needs a data strategy.
As a strategic business and technology advisor, not only have I written the book on data
strategy (literally), I’ve helped many of the world's most successful organizations create one.
In this article, I share my pearls of wisdom on how to create a winning data strategy – i.e., a
strategy for using data in the best way for your business.
So what should you include in your data strategy? When I work with a company to develop
its data strategy, we look at the following seven areas:
How To Create A Data Strategy:
7 Things Every Business Must Include

3. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Business strategy
A good data strategy shouldn’t be created in isolation; it must be driven by
your overall business strategy. Therefore, the first step in any data strategy
is to consider your organization's strategic priorities and key business
questions. Only then can you identify how you might use data to help you
deliver those priorities and answer your business questions.
The data uses and priorities that you identify in this phase are your use
cases. To ensure your data strategy is focused and achievable, I’d stick to no
more than 3–5 data use cases.

4. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Short-term adoption
priorities
Also known as quick wins! Because the big strategic data priorities can take
some time to implement and deliver value, I find it's helpful to also identify
1–3 data quick wins. These are fast, ideally relatively inexpensive ways for
you to add value and demonstrate return on investment from data – which,
in turn, helps you gain buy-in for those more prominent data use cases. For
example, you might do some customer churn analysis, to help prevent or
reduce customer turnover.
Next, for each of the data priorities/use cases that you’ve identified, you
need to work through the following considerations:

5. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Data requirements
In this stage, think about what data you need to achieve your goals and
where that data will come from. This includes:
• Do you need structured or unstructured data, or (ideally) a combination
of the two?
• Can you achieve your goal with internal data alone, or do you need to
supplement your company data with external data (for example, social
media data, weather data, etc.)?
• Do you already have or can you quickly access the data you need?
• If not, you need to set up a way to collect the appropriate data. What
data collection method will you use?

6. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Data governance
Data brings great rewards, but it can also be a serious liability if you don’t pay proper
attention to data governance. This step encourages you to think about data quality,
data security, privacy and ownership issues, transparency and ethical data use. Key
considerations include:
• Who is responsible for ensuring the data is accurate, complete and up to date?
• How will ensure the data is stored securely?
• If you’re accessing someone else’s data, could you lose access to it? What will you
do if they cut you off?
• How do you ensure the ethical use of data?
• What permissions do you need to be able to gather and use the data?
• How can you minimize data where possible (a fundamental principle of GDPR)?
• How will you ensure the open and honest use of data across the business?

7. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Technology implications
Having decided how you want to use data, and what data you’ll need, the
next step is to identify the technology and infrastructure implications of
those decisions. In very simple terms, this means looking at your hardware
and software needs for:
• Collecting data
• Storing and organizing data
• Processing (analyzing) data to extract insights, which may include
machine learning or deep learning technology
• Communicating insights from data, including reporting and data
visualization

8. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Often, the main stumbling block for companies wanting to get more out of data is
the lack of data skills and knowledge. Therefore, this is a critical part of your data
strategy. Ask yourself:
• Do you have the skills to deliver your data needs?
• If not, can you train in-house staff or do you need to hire new talent?
• If you’re looking at external skills, will you partner with a data provider or is there
potential to acquire a company?
Leadership awareness is another important part of this. Your leadership team needs
to understand why data is important and how data can help the business achieve its
objectives. Ideally, this culture of data will filter throughout the whole company, so
that everyone at every level is aware of the power of data.
Skills and capacity

9. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Making a plan is one thing; delivering it is another. So this last step is about
making sure your data strategy becomes reality. This includes:
• How will you implement your plan? What are the key activities that need
to happen next?
• Who is responsible for delivering each action?
• What changes does the business need to make?
Implementation and
change management issues

10. © 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Once you’ve looked at each of these areas, you can then start to create a
more formal data strategy document. For me, this involves completing my
Data Use Case Template for each of the data uses/projects identified and
then filling in my overarching Data Strategy Template – both of which are
free to download and use.
These one-page templates are incredibly useful tools that will help you
clarify your data goals and requirements on paper.

11. © 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website
© 2017 Bernard Marr , Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved
Bernard Marr is an internationally best-selling author, popular keynote speaker, futurist, and a
strategic business & technology advisor to governments and companies. He helps
organisations improve their business performance, use data more intelligently, and
understand the implications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data,
blockchains, and the Internet of Things.
LinkedIn has ranked Bernard as one of the world’s top 5 business influencers. He is a frequent
contributor to the World Economic Forum and writes a regular column for Forbes. Every day
Bernard actively engages his 1.5 million social media followers and shares content that
reaches millions of readers.
Visit The
Website

12. Title
Subtitle
Be the FIRST to receive news,
articles, insights and event
updates from Bernard Marr & Co
straight to your inbox.
Signing up is EASY! Simply fill out
the online form and we’ll be in
touch!
© 2018 Bernard Marr, Bernard Marr & Co. All rights reserved

13. BernardMarr
hello@bernardmarr.com
www.bernardmarr.com