The CDO Midwest Summit, hosted by CDO Magazine and ComSpark, brings together industry leaders to discuss data and analytics best practices. In the session “How To Innovate With Data And Analytics To Improve Business Outcomes Across The Maturity Spectrum,” the following panelists share insights on accelerating innovation and using data and analytics as business drivers:

• Ben Blanquera, VP – Evangelist and Sr. Architect, Rackspace
• Jill Campbell, IT Program Management Leader, Belcan Engineering
• Jennifer Mezzio, Managing Director, HR Divisional Data Officer, Silicon Valley Bank
• Brian Shea, Chief Information Officer, MedOne Hospital Physicians

Paul Hardy, EVP of Professional Services at Ironside, moderates the session.

The panelists, discussing their perspectives on the organizational data analytics journey, begin by emphasizing the necessity for a governance model, understanding business analytics, and data validation.

According to Blanquera, encouraging a senior executive to understand the software development life cycle (SLDC) clarifies the value addition component of products.

Shea states that MedOne, a company focused on custom applications, started its data journey by evaluating all custom applications. He recalls he presented a clean and organized data feed to the executives to secure the buy-in.

He adds, “The biggest thing at the leadership level was to get buy-in, to make it real for them,” and help them understand the company’s investment in the data journey.

Next, Campbell discusses drafting a charter as a roadmap that appeals to individuals. She shares that she dedicated time to rewriting Belcan Engineering’s charter, focusing on deliverables and philosophy.

She states that it has nothing to do with technology but with empowering people to be part of the data culture. “If we have a culture in the environment with the business and partner with them, that journey becomes easier, and that vision and charter becomes easier to write,” she explains.

Continuing, the panelists reflect on how rapid execution has taken over business case documentation. "If you cannot put everything down in writing, at least have demos to show visibility around it,” Blanquera says.

Shea agrees with Blanquera that clinical testing is critical before anything is implemented in production because it may impact patient care.

Mezzio emphasizes transforming to an agile methodology as a challenge. Campbell responds by saying that it all boils down to the maturity of an organization. "If you are not mature enough to handle agile," she advises, “maybe that is not right for you.”

Blanquera urges individuals to realize that constant improvement is required after POC and production to ensure operability at scale quickly. He recommends setting up guardrails and discussing the lifecycle of the system.

Switching the discussion’s focus, Shea mentions organizational maturity, culture, and engaging with the appropriate level at the right time. He believes that asking the right questions enables others to comprehend the life cycle of things.

From a security standpoint, Shea feels fortunate to be in a cloud-native environment. He mentions leveraging SaaS models and managed services partners, which provide him with better resources and scalability.

“I look at the cloud as just a tool. It is another tool for me, just as if I had the server and the internal infrastructure,” Shea shares. He adds that the thought process for securing data remains the same.

Finally, shedding light on governance, Mezzio states that it goes back to people because humans are the massive cause of breaches. Therefore, developing a data-driven mindset within the organization enables everyone to understand their responsibility in safeguarding data as an asset.

 Watch other CDO Midwest Summit 2022 sessions HERE