Data is the driving force behind business – the "new oil" is the common refrain.

Like oil, however, data needs to be discovered, captured, refined, and provided to users in a consumable format. That means that the heat is on data and analytics leaders to produce results and value to the enterprise. However, those leaders aren’t feeling good about their progress. Less than half of data and analytics leaders say their team is providing value to the business, according to a new survey by Gartner.

To deliver on those results, chief data and analytics officers (CDAOs) must focus on what Gartner calls the three Ps – presence, persistence, and performance – according to Donna Medeiros, senior director analyst, at Gartner.  Medeiros said that CDAOs who rise above the pack present an executive presence and “data-driven business performance and operational excellence.”

“The takeaway,” Medeiros told SDxCentral, “is that the CDAO role is complex. CDAOs are asked to – compelled to – do things and then they also have things they want to do.” That is, CDAOs need to balance things like compliance demands with delivering the data the business needs when and how they need it.

“Data and analytics leaders have had some time to build teams,” according to Gartner’s report, “but their grace period is over and now they’re under pressure to deliver tangible results.”

Data and analytics leaders who rated themselves as “effective” or “very effective” correlated with those reporting high organizational and well-defined personal goals, according to Gartner. For example, 43% of top-performing leaders reported effectiveness in committing time to their own professional development, compared with 19% of low performers.

[caption id="attachment_127975" align="alignnone" width="967"] CDAO’s self-reported views of their personal effectiveness. Source: Gartner[/caption]

As Medeiros said, the role is complex – and it’s also broad. According to the research, which is based on a survey of 566 data and analytics enterprise leaders, 60% of CDAOs are tasked with defining and implementing a data strategy, 59% said they also have oversight for that strategy. Over half (55%) say they are responsible for data and analytics governance, and 54% say are charged with driving culture change.

While the demands on CDAOs are high, companies are willing to invest. According to the Garner survey, 65% of respondents say there is additional funding for data management, 63% say they are seeing investment in data governance, and 60% cite additional funding for advanced analytics. The average budget based on survey responses for data and analytics is $5.41 million. Forty-four percent say their teams have increased in the last year.

The investment is, of course, good news and reflects confidence in the CDAO’s role and the importance of the data office, Medeiros said. “However, this leads to more work as pressure grows for data and analytics teams to achieve tangible business results.”

[caption id="attachment_127854" align="alignnone" width="1062"] Top roadblocks to the success of D&A Initiatives.[/caption]

The biggest challenges cited by CDAOs are not technical ones such as storage or compute capabilities. Given the scope and complexity of demands being placed on data and analytics teams, the lack of talent has quickly become a top impediment, as reported by 39% of respondents.

Given the shortage of available talent, CDAO’s strategies must go beyond hiring workers already skilled in data and analytics. They must work across the organization to improve data literacy that includes education, training, and coaching for data-driven culture and data literacy, Medeiros said. “CDAOs need to work with [human resources] on what roles need data literary and then work with employees on what’s in it for them,” she told SDxCentral.

CDAOs most often report to the CIO (20% of respondents), Medeiros said. However, they must align with others across the C-suite, she added, because they have multiple stakeholders across the business.

Given the breadth of data and analytics, CDAO plays three roles. Medeiros likened it to a symphony and the need to play the part of “composer, conductor, and performer.”