In today’s data-saturated world, it is time for businesses to change from being application-centric to being data-centric. As someone who’s seen businesses drown in a sea of data, I’m convinced that having the right mindset can make all the difference. Without a doubt, it’s time to stop treating data as a by-product of software applications and start recognizing it as the precious business asset it truly is. After all, software and methodologies may come and go, but your data remains a constant and permanent resource.

In this article, I’ll share my insights on the challenges of handling data overload and the risks of businesses continuing with a software-centric approach for dealing with data. Most importantly, I’ll introduce you to a practical executive-level checklist that will be your guide to kickstart your data-centric transition. So, are you ready to unlock the true potential of your data and stay ahead of the competition?

“We are surrounded by data, but starved for insights.”

Jay Baer

1. Businesses Crave Insights, Yet Struggle with Too Much Data, Software, Tech, and Hype.

Within the data-intensive landscape of modern businesses, we see both large and small companies face increasingly larger data sets. However, harnessing the power of this data to gain critical insights proves daunting for most. This is because there is so much data, monolithic software, emerging tech, and hype for businesses to fathom. Indeed, this confusion only exacerbates the challenge of remaining competitive. Moreover, businesses are increasingly frustrated by their inability to stay informed in a world with an ever-growing wealth of data essential for success. Let’s look further at these issues.

a. Business Data Overload Produces Few Insights.

Unquestionably, businesses struggle to glean any actual insights from their data. In particular, business analysis has become a mind-numbing experience. Indeed, businesses routinely sift through vast amounts of irrelevant data that is routinely incomplete, inaccurate, and outdated.

“People spend 60% to 80% of their time trying to find data. It’s a huge productivity loss.”

Dan Vesset

b. The Struggle to Separate Reality from Hype: Finding Effective Tech Solutions for Data Overload.

Also, the world of data-related technologies is rapidly evolving, with a plethora of new terms and concepts emerging, such as “data-driven,” “data mesh, ” “knowledge management,” and “data fabric.” While these innovations hold promise, they are often accompanied by hype, making it challenging for businesses to determine what’s truly effective. Undoubtedly, the risk is that over-zealous tech sales teams may oversell and misrepresent valid concepts. As a result, businesses end up investing in solutions without proper due diligence. Hence, corporate leaders must invest the time to be able to assess that these technologies can actually meet their business requirements. Without a doubt, to deploy technology effectively, leaders must first understand it.

“… to deploy technology effectively, leaders must first understand it.”

2. Is Our App-Centric Mindset Preventing Us From Getting The Data Insights We Need?

Without a doubt, software has revolutionized business, but its traditional focus on processing data as inputs and outputs has led to data being treated as a by-product. Despite the evolution of enterprise software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms, and “Big Data”, this software-centric approach persists, resulting in aging data silos. As a stop-gap measure, businesses have attempted to address this issue with data integration interfaces between systems and Business Intelligence (BI) tools. However, this is more of a patchwork fix than a strategic solution. Indeed, there is a need for a more strategic approach. So, let’s examine more closely the adverse impact of being software-centric and the “what-ifs”, if we took a data-centric approach.

a. Exploring the Impact of Monolithic Applications and Emerging Technologies on Business Data Dysfunction.

You Need To Think Data Centric To Be A Successful Business: Stop Being Data Driven, Application Centric

Many businesses have become overly application-centric, which prevents them from gaining real insights from their valuable data. This issue arises because many companies rely on numerous monolithic software applications that generate vast amounts of data. For instance, many supply chain managers routinely work with several systems such as ERP, TMS, WMS, OMS, CRM, Procurement, SCM, Invoicing, Accounting, SCP, and more. Moreover, these systems of records were designed for transactional processing where each system, as a byproduct, produces data for its own purpose. Thus as a whole, businesses do not have unified data. Indeed, most corporate data is disjointed, incomplete, fragmented, and out-of-date, yielding few insights.

What’s worse about this continued application-centric approach? It’s the fact that the disjointed situation is further complicated by emerging technologies like IoT devices, which are generating vast amounts of new data, and AI, which requires high-quality data sets to function effectively. Consequently, most application-centric corporations are overwhelmed by data they can’t use, rendering emerging data-intensive technologies ineffective – a classic case of “Garbage In, Garbage Out” (GIGO). For more discussion on the dangers of having an application-centric mindset, see my article, You Need To Think Data Centric To Be A Successful Business: Stop Being Data Driven, Application Centric.

b. What If Businesses Started Putting Their Data First Over Their Software Applications?

It is a fact that businesses are now operating in a fast-paced digital environment. To succeed, businesses need to change. The question that corporate leaders need to ask themselves is “what would happen if they started putting their data first over their software applications?” This is a crucial initial step for gaining valuable insights from their data and enhancing competitiveness. Indeed, they need to think of their data as a product, not a by-product, and view it as a tangible, permanent asset. In contrast, they should see their software as temporary, since it changes over time. Embracing this “data-centric” mindset will set businesses on the path to obtaining meaningful data insights.

“… think of … data as a product, not a by-product, … a tangible, permanent asset”

3. So What Does Data-Centric Mean And How Can Businesses Get Started?

To understand what “data centric” means, let’s first clarify what it isn’t. First, being “data centric” is not being “data driven,” a term that was more relevant in the past when business processes were largely paper-based. Moreover, a “data-driven” approach doesn’t address the issues of data overload or the “Garbage In, Garbage Out” problem. Also, being data centric doesn’t require businesses consolidating all data into a single database or application. Without a doubt, this type of undertaking would be both impractical from a resource perspective and too inflexible to meet future needs. So, let’s look at what it means to be truly data centric and how to implement this approach effectively.

a. What Exactly is Data-Centric?

“Data centric refers to an architecture where data is the primary and permanent asset, and applications come and go.  In the data centric architecture, the data model precedes the implementation of any given application and will be around and valid long after it is gone.”

TDAN, The Data-Centric Revolution: Data-Centric vs. Data-Driven

A Data Centric Business: The Best Way To Agility, One Truth, Simplicity, Technology Innovation

I like this definition. It defines data as the primary component of business technology. Specifically, this definition tells us that technology, software applications, and automation will come and go, but our data will never grow obsolete. Indeed, data is a permanent business asset that businesses do not need to constrain within any particular technology or software application. That’s it. By adopting a “data centric” mindset, businesses can remain agile, have one truth, keep things simple, and continue to innovate. Moreover, data silos, information duplication, and data inaccuracies will fade away. For more details on the advantages of a data centric business, see my article, A Data Centric Business: The Best Way To Agility, One Truth, Simplicity, Technology Innovation.

“By adopting a “data centric” mindset, businesses will remain agile, have one truth, keep things simple, and they can continue to innovate.”

b. How Can Businesses Get Started?

So, how can executives get started to transform their organization into a data-centric business? Well, one way is to use the Data-Centric Business Strategy Checklist that I developed. This checklist is designed to help executives, empowering them to lead their organization’s shift to a data-centric business. Specifically in this checklist, I’ll detail the critical executive-level tasks required for success. This includes establishing enterprise-wide data-centric guidelines for IT projects and driving consensus on key business terminology. Bottom line, this checklist provides a pathway to success for executives to better leverage their organization’s most important asset, their data. For details, see my article, A Data-Centric Business Strategy Checklist: The Way To Energize A Digital Enterprise To Be More Agile, Bold, And Simplified.

A Data-Centric Business Strategy Checklist: The Way To Energize A Digital Enterprise To Be More Agile, Bold, And Simplified

Data-Centric Business Strategy Checklist

• Step 1 – Business Leader Commitment: Executive-Level Ownership of the Data-Centric Strategy.
• Step 2 – Establish Data-Centric Criteria: Guidelines for IT Project Teams to Follow.
• Step 3 – Agree on Key Operational Definitions: Assure Business Terms Are Measurable for Mutual Understanding and Interoperability.
• Step 4 – Executive Follow Through: Engaged Executive Leadership Needed to Implement a Data Centric Strategy.
• Step 5 – Prioritize IT Data-Centric Implementations and Minimize Application-Centric Initiatives.

For a detailed explanation of this Data-Centric Business Strategy Checklist, see my article, A Data-Centric Business Strategy Checklist: The Way To Energize A Digital Enterprise To Be More Agile, Bold, And Simplified.

Lastly, if you are in the supply chain industry and need help to implement a data-centric strategy, please contact me to discuss next steps. I have implemented 100s of tech pilot projects and innovative solutions across the supply chain as well as all transportation modes. I specialize in proof-of-concepts (POC) for emerging technologies and data-centric software development methods. To reach me, click here to access my contact form or you can find me on LinkedIn.

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