Aravind Jagannathan, VP and Chief Data Officer for Single-Family, Freddie Mac, speaks with Nazar Labunets, Product and Content Marketing Manager at Ataccama, in a video interview about defining the CDO role, having management support, the centralized federated model of enterprise data office, the CDMC framework, mergers and acquisitions, and reasons to get started with data governance.
Freddie Mac is a government-sponsored entity whose mission is to make home possible. The residential side provides financing for residential single-family homes. The organization has a second business line - multifamily, which handles the commercial side, and a capital markets division, supporting the securitization and processing of the asset-liability book.
Jagannathan begins by stating that the challenging part about defining a role, comes with the value generation aspect. He says that the roles like CFO, CTO, or CIO can be immediately defined.
However, when it comes to the CDO role, there are various answers. Since the inception of the CDO role, the role has evolved and platforms like CDO Magazine have brought CDOs together.
According to Jagannathan, CDOs are figuring out that the role is about generating business value, more than tech. He is thankful for having management support in terms of value brought to the table, and budgetary commitment.
Adding on, Jagannathan states that most CDOs are working on a multi-year plan across the board and need support to eliminate pain points and derive value propositions. He notes that through the value proposition, CDOs can show how they are moving the business forward and feeding future needs, in alignment with the overall strategy.
Speaking about his organization, Jagannathan mentions having an enterprise data office that brings the CEOs together. This ensures adherence to standards and compliance while consolidating metrics.
Further, Jagannathan believes that having a centralized federated model is about understanding that data is tied to people, processes, and technology. He advocates that if the model is federated, the CDO should have a seat next to the management. Data should be the main component of the overall organizational model.
When asked about frameworks, Jagannathan mentions supporting the Cloud Data Management Capability (CDMC) framework launched by the EDM Council. He asserts that the CDMC framework has best practices around data governance, privacy, and security for organizations adopting the cloud.
CDMC is critical to assess the organization, look at the data maturity, ensure that certifications are in place while moving to the cloud, and industry standards are being met, says Jagannathan.
Speaking about innovation in the data space, he affirms that modernization of the ecosystem sets the bedrock for innovative needs.
Shedding light on mergers and acquisitions, Jagannathan says that data is going to be the key component of organizational consolidation. The technological aspect will evolve naturally, and organizations will have to assess the similarities in different elements of data cataloging, and governance capabilities, he adds.
Jagannathan maintains that it boils down to how different organizations define certain elements. From a process standpoint, organizations must ensure milestones and roadmaps that do not short-circuit or devalue important functions.
Referring to current cloud terminologies and the lift-and-shift scenario, Jagannathan states that everyone wants to avoid creating a data swamp, which requires proper management. Similarly, M&A is almost going from the legacy world to the cloud world.
Therefore, in the case of his organization, Jagannathan states that all data is registered before anything comes into the cloud. With data as the bedrock, governance is the first step before anything comes in, and the organization will follow that for any type of consolidation, he notes.
In conclusion, Jagannathan lays down three recommendations for organizations to get started with data governance:
Data capability assessment model (DCAM): This helps an organization to assess where it is across each paradigm of strategy, quality, and governance. It gives a clear roadmap of strengths and areas of opportunity.
Engaging business and product stakeholders by showing the value of having a solid data governance program.
Having metrics indicators that show value in small increments.
CDO Magazine appreciates Aravind Jagannathan for sharing his insights with our global community.
