Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

Given the heightened cybersecurity environment, what should you provide in response to a board request for assurance that the company is perform­ing its fiduciary duty? What information should you provide to assure the board that it is appropriately protecting the company? This Executive Update proposes a five-section standard presentation template for the board. 

One of the first questions I often hear when explaining Agile methods is, “Who is the product owner?” Answering this question is not so simple. There is a lot of context that you have to set in order to explain the role. When rushed, the short answer is “the person on the Agile team who calls the shots relative to development priorities by acting as the voice of the customer.” This is often followed up with “of course, you know that Agile teams are self-organizing and do not have a project manager?” Then, when greeted with frowns and surprised looks, you add, “instead, the teams elect their own spokesperson.” In this Advisor, we take a look at who the fills the role of product owner as well as their roles and responsibilities.

The grocery retail industry thus far has been resistant to disruption, unlike other retail categories. Not much has changed in the way we interact with grocery purchases over the last few decades: we head to our neighborhood supermarket, pull out a shopping cart, pick out the week’s requirements, pay the cashier, and head home. Of course, we may pick up more organic products, and instead of transacting in cash we may use Apple Pay, but not counting luxury services, the shopping experience hasn’t fundamentally changed for the masses. There hasn’t been much need for retailers to innovate. Everyone needs groceries, and today’s grocers are able to meet those demands, with or without innovation. Developing countries with high-density pockets of human population, however, tell a different story.

This Executive Update provides an overview of capability assessments and examines their use. It also provides some key tips to anchor the assessments in practicality so that you can begin using them within your organization.

Governance is about what decisions need to be made, who gets to make them, how they are made, and the supporting management processes, structures, information, and tools to ensure that decisions are effectively implemented, complied with, and achieving the desired levels of performance. This requires that the accountabilities and responsibilities be well understood and clearly and unambiguously assigned, the reward system be aligned, and relevant performance metrics be in place.

Pat O’Sullivan starts from the premise that the principles of standardization and conformity that were developed for the data warehouse are equally applicable to a digital business to deliver a consistent view of information to many lines of business. He explores the characteristics of a system of common metadata that can define the links between an existing data warehouse and an emerging digital business, describing the components and characteristics of this new metadata layer and how it is essential to fueling the growth of the AI capabilities of a digital business.

Michael Müller believes that managing change is essential for a digital business initiative. This position emerges from his experience with BI projects where “Babylonian confusion” reigns, as business and IT lack a common vocabulary and an ability to communicate clearly about data needs and structures. Müller posits that digital business shares these same characteristics, but at a much larger scale because of the nature of big data.

Martijn ten Napel explores the challenge that has confronted him throughout his career: why do so many BI projects fail? His conclusion is that the struggle to achieve coherence between people, process, information, and technology has caused the complexity of the data landscape to grow out of control. His answer to the problem is the connected architecture — a framework and thought process for the organization of DW and BI projects. He believes it applies equally to digital business.