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Predicts 2016: Information Strategy

Published: 9 December 2015

Analyst(s): Douglas Laney, Alan D. Duncan, Mario Faria, Debra Logan, Alan Dayley, Guido De Simoni,
Michael Patrick Moran, Andrew White, Saul Judah

During the next several years, leading organizations will begin monetizing
their data directly, will have chief data officers often hampered in various
ways, and will focus information governance increasingly on the Internet of
Things, metadata and master data.

Key Findings

Businesses that can monetize their information assets outstrip their rivals by using information
to reinvent, digitalize or eliminate existing business processes and products.

The majority of CDOs and information leaders are still learning on the job.

A lack of common metadata standards across business units is due to disengagement with
enterprise information governance, not the enabling technology.

High fidelity mastering of IoT data objects will serve as a key enabler in the transformation of
business models from "guaranteed levels of performance" to "guaranteed outcomes."

The vast majority of organizations are struggling mightily to establish the operational side of
information governance (that is, information policy enforcement or information stewardship).

Recommendations
Information leaders, such as CDOs, should:

Establish an information product function that directly monetizes data. Identify information
assets that can be exchanged for mutual economic advantage.

Map the information strategy directly to the organization's business strategy to build trust with
stakeholders. Communicate information's key role in overall business success via quantifiable
information metrics linked to business KPIs.

Launch an enterprise metadata management initiative that links existing information programs
to increase investment yield and maximizes collaborative investments across projects.

Approach IoT projects with the same rigorous business requirements, architectural standards
and governance that are applied to traditional information management projects.

Focus data governance on data with the greatest economic potential across business units, and
elevate the role of the information steward.

Strategic Planning Assumptions

By 2020, 10% of organizations will have a highly profitable business unit specifically for
productizing and commercializing their information assets.

Through 2019, 90% of large organizations will have hired a chief data officer (CDO); of these,
only 50% will be hailed a success.

By 2020, 50% of information governance initiatives will be enacted with policies based on
metadata alone.

By 2020, the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital business will drive requirements in 25% of new
information governance and master data management (MDM) implementations.

Through 2019, 10% of organizations will have established operational information stewardship
in line-of-business functions.

Analysis
What You Need to Know
The emergence of CDOs in many organizations and across industries indicates a growing
recognition of information as a strategic business asset one distinguished from the technology
through which it flows. Increasingly, information is accumulated, managed, accounted for and
deployed just as traditional balance sheet assets. And even IT organizations themselves are
beginning to cleave into autonomous "I" and "T" units in some major businesses and government
agencies. Information, which is so central to an organization's success and linked with business
strategy, warrants its own strategy to ensure its economic benefits are maximized in a multiplicity of
ways.
For enterprises to realize the benefits of treating information as an actual enterprise asset, these
Strategic Planning Assumptions should be considered in overall enterprise information management
(EIM) and business strategy development.

Strategic Planning Assumptions

Strategic Planning Assumption: By 2020, 10% of organizations will have a highly profitable
business unit specifically for productizing and commercializing their information assets.
Analysis by: Douglas Laney, Alan Duncan
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Key Findings:
The trend to see and use information as an asset is still in the "early adoption" phase, making doing
so a competitive differentiator for leading organizations. Businesses that can monetize their
information assets outstrip their rivals by using information to reinvent, digitalize or eliminate
existing business processes and products. Yet, most information and business leaders lack the
experience and tools to monetize information. Why? In Gartner's experience, based on hundreds of
client inquiries and interviews, the value of information itself is still largely unrecognized or
unrealized, even as the value of other intangibles, such as copyrights, trademarks and patents, is
measured and reported.
Data brokers, such as Experian, Equifax, Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis, Nielsen, and J.D. Power,
have built business models based on data monetization, generating their revenue and other financial
benefits from exchanging it. Increasingly, businesses in other sectors are identifying that data
exchange either by licensing raw data to partners or by sharing derived insights can become a
valuable revenue stream in its own right. However, to achieve direct monetization of data requires
focus. This implies creating a team with a specific remit for defining, developing and productizing
the market for the information asset (analogous to the product development life cycle established
for managing and marketing traditional products).
Market Implications:

Professional services firms will begin to develop capabilities for advising and delivering
information product management and self-data brokering for their clients.

The number of third-party businesses for hosting and reselling others information assets (via
published APIs or direct data downloads) will continue to grow before the market ultimately
begins to consolidate.

Established data brokers will evolve to provide both of the above services.

Technology megavendors will begin to partner with and acquire major sources of data and
content.

Recommendations:
Information leaders should:

Establish an information product management team to professionalize and focus the capability
for directly monetizing data.

Measure the exogenous economic value in your data to determine which of your information
assets have market potential.

Develop and maintain an inventory of information assets from throughout the organization, as
well as those from second- and third-party sources that can be synthesized for value-adding
insight.

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Leverage existing business partnerships to identify opportunities for mutual advantage through
exchange of information assets and key insights.

Related Research:
"Seven Steps to Monetizing Your Information Assets"
"Why and How to Measure the Value of Your Information Assets"
Strategic Planning Assumption: Through 2019, 90% of large organizations will have hired a chief
data officer (CDO); of these, only 50% will be hailed a success.
Analysis by: Debra Logan, Mario Faria
Key Findings:
At the end of 2015, there were about 1,000 CDOs/chief analytics officers in the world, up from 400
in 2014. We expect these numbers to grow, and that 90% of large companies will have CDOs by
2019.
Because this role and its functions are new in most organizations, the majority of these data leaders
are learning on the job. Their first task is to create an information strategy that improves business
outcomes.
The most difficult issue for many CDOs is creating relevant metrics that tie the activities of
information management to measurable business outcomes. While monetization of data is a
relatively straightforward way to demonstrate value, determining which data assets can be
monetized is not an easy task.
Although stakeholders are demanding better results from their information management initiatives,
they, too, are unsure as to the exact mechanics of making that happen. When data and information
initiatives fail, business users are apt to blame the data office and the CDO.
Politically, the position that the CDO holds is a difficult one, and many newly appointed CDOs are
meeting change resistance from all quarters. CDOs report that much of this resistance is coming
from the IT department, particularly over the control of information assets and their governance.
Market Implications:

The office of the CDO initiatives are often positioned as having intangible results and rarely tie
their metrics of success with business expectations.

CDOs are not being able to approve their budget needs easily.

Some organizations that created a CDO role but failed to invest sufficiently in it will take a step
back and eliminate the role.

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Recommendations:
Information leaders should:

Create an information strategy based on the organization's business strategy and predominant
value discipline.

Work tirelessly on building trust with various business stakeholders, especially the CIO.

Educate senior leaders and peers about the role that data and information play in overall
business success.

Establish baselines on information governance and data monetization from which progress can
be measured.

Tie quantifiable information metrics to quantifiable business key performance indicators (KPIs)
to demonstrate tangible success.

Adopt formal information asset measures, and share them with the organization.

Related Research:
"Chief Data Officers' Handbook"
"Chief Data Officers Should Align Authority and Responsibility to Succeed"
"Successful Organizational Design Principles for the Office of the Chief Data Officer"
"How to Start Implementing the Bimodal Office of the Chief Data Officer"
Strategic Planning Assumption: By 2020, 50% of information governance initiatives will be
enacted with policies based on metadata alone.
Analysis by: Guido De Simoni, Alan Dayley, Saul Judah
Key Findings:

Organizations are dealing with a tremendous amount of information that can inhibit them from
transforming into digital businesses if not curated and governed properly.

Additionally, lack of agreement on common metadata standards across organizational business

units is attributable to disengagement with enterprise information governance, rather than
enabling technology.

Lastly, analytics governance needs to be considered in the context of the wider enterprise
governance framework and alongside information governance policies and practices.

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Market Implications:
The CIO or CDO has a key responsibility to implement an enterprise-class metadata management
initiative. Metadata is one of the critical components for ensuring that individual information
investments can be linked, are aligned and can leverage each other.
Enterprise metadata management (EMM) becomes especially important for strategic types of
information and business assets such as enterprise data models, master data and business
processes, as well as legal, governance, and risk and compliance requirements. It becomes
important because, by definition, these widely reused information assets are heavily depended on to
assure business process, outcome and analytics integrity. Most organizations have policies and
procedures related to security, privacy and governance of information assets; however, we often see
failure to address the interrelationships between each information investment, project or program
across the organizations.
Technologies exist that can assist in detailed mappings of metadata for either unstructured or
structured data (although usually not together). Organizations should use file analysis to better
understand their unstructured data, including where it resides and who has access to it. Data
visualization maps can be presented to other parts of the organization and can be used to better
identify the value and risk of the data. Thus, these maps enable IT, line-of-business and compliance
organizations to make more-informed decisions regarding classification and information governance
data.
Most organizations will find that their current metadata management practices are different across
applications, data and technologies, and that these practices are siloed by the needs of different
disciplines each with their governance authority, practices and capabilities. Generally speaking,
the responsibility for breaking down these silos is beyond the scope of an EMM discipline.
Emerging trends, such as big data, the IoT, smart machines and, ultimately, digital business, are
driving the need to make analytics an integral part of any information strategy. However, this carries
the risk of wrong, insufficient, illegitimate or unethical application of analytics if they are based on
poorly governed, untrusted information, and poorly supported information policies.
EMM offers a foundational approach for aligning information and analytics governance, because it
provides the means to better understand the existing silos and governance rules that relate to
strategic types of information assets. Thus, EMM then helps to better align information and
analytics governance.
Recommendations:
Information leaders must:

Identify metadata within the organization that is consistent and represents high business value.
Furthermore, use this metadata as a basis to launch an EMM program to ensure consistency
and support across disparate information management investments and projects, including
information governance. Use the EMM to help you link existing information programs in an
effort to increase investment yield, as well as to identify and improve information practice to

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ensure consistency and support across disparate information management investments and
projects.

Leverage the data presentation features of file analysis products as key selection criteria to
implement an effective metadata and content analysis initiative.

Ensure close cooperation of the information governance team with business intelligence (BI)
and analytics leaders by leveraging EMM. They must work together on information and analytics
processes, roles, standards and applications, thereby assuring the desired evidence-based
business outcomes.

Related Research:
"Market Guide for Metadata Management Solutions"
"Gartner Clarifies the Definition of Metadata"
"Enterprise Metadata Management Improves Information's Accessibility and Increases Its Value"
Strategic Planning Assumption: By 2020, the Internet of Things (IoT) and digital business will drive
requirements in 25% of new information governance and master data management (MDM)
implementations.
Analysis by: Michael Moran
Key Findings:
Gartner forecasts that by 2020, more than a cumulative 25 billion things will be shipped, which
represents an average annualized growth rate of 35% for the IoT. By leveraging the IoT,
organizations will face a wide range of opportunities to substantially increase operational efficiency
of existing business processes or completely transform their business models. However, support of
revenue-generating business activities will require semantic consistency for those "things" and
select associated data across the IoT platforms, operational technology (OT) and IT domains in
which they participate.
The rise of the IoT has brought with it the need to master a new class of data objects that of
"things" (proxies for the physical object from which the sensor data is being recorded). High fidelity
mastering of these data objects will serve as a key enabler in the transformation of business models
from guaranteed levels of performance to guaranteed outcomes.
Achievement will require an end-to-end capability (thing, IoT platform, OT or IT through business
process), such that the thing and the select data that it generates are both recognizable and
available to business processes supported within the IT environment.
Performance demands resulting from the continued shift from physical to digital objects (or their
proxies) within commerce will serve as a driver to improve on the current status quo of "good
enough" information governance and MDM programs prevalent today. Direct support of resultant

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lines of business will require step-level change above that which serves as the norm for information
governance programs today.
Market Implications:
Capabilities inherent within the IoT hold out the promise of transforming business models through
increased efficiencies and business model risk reduction to degrees previously unimaginable within
value chains dependent on machine technology. These capabilities will serve as the catalyst to
directly address levels of uncertainty intrinsic to business models based on guaranteed levels of
performance.
Physical objects and their components properly engineered and outfitted with sensor technology
will provide for the direct performance and operational status monitoring of a given instance of that
object in its real-world application. This capability, coupled with advanced analytics and the ability
to represent the object within business value chains, will serve to enable the reduction of
uncertainty to provide for the transformation of associated business models to guaranteed
outcome. The combination of advanced analytics supported by aggregate data derived from real- or
near-real-time performance data traceable to individual things (or collective aggregates, such as a
diesel engine) will enable people to identify additional opportunities to deliver value. In the example
of a diesel engine manufacturer:

Short term Real-time monitoring of performance and operational status of each engine,
combined with predictive analytics, will provide for increased efficiencies, such as decreased
downtime for maintenance and reduced maintenance costs.

Medium term The above, in combination with integration of business processes that enable
tracking and billing of power consumed by the operator (known colloquially as "power by the
hour") will enable the transformation of business models from guarantee of performance to
guarantee of outcome.

Longer term Analysis over time of real-time performance and operational status data across
very large datasets will provide for improved design, engineering and manufacture of
succeeding products.

Achievement of these benefits, and thus the transformation of associated business models, is
contingent on high fidelity identification of the specific objects and instances thereof, along with
semantic consistency across the IoT, OT and IT domains in which they reside (that is, IoT things
become recognized as master data objects and are managed actively within an MDM program).
This, in turn, will require improvements in information governance, and in supporting MDM solutions
and programs.
Recommendations:
Information leaders should:

Approach IoT projects with the same rigorous business requirements and governance that is
applied to traditional line-of-business projects that drive revenue today.

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Plan for and design the mastering of things within the IoT domain and platform to provide for
integrity required within the IT domain.

Realize that the value of IoT will require semantic consistency and therefore mastering of
designated things across the full spectrum of IoT, OT and IT environments. Design for and
implement end-to-end master data architecture to provide for high fidelity information semantic
linkage between IoT, OT and IT domains.

Understand that current business processes neither account for nor accommodate IoT data. As
IoT data becomes increasingly available within the IT environment, business processes will
need to change and adapt to make use of it. Evolve business processes to integrate
appropriate data in support of IoT-mastered objects.

Related Research:
"Four Essentials for Starting and Supporting MDM"
"Mastering the 'Things' in the Internet of Things"
Strategic Planning Assumption: Through 2019, 10% of organizations will have established
operational information stewardship in line-of-business functions.
Analysis by: Andrew White
Key Findings:
Although information governance is fast becoming a critical business-enabling business-led activity,
the vast majority of organizations are struggling to establish the operational side of information
governance that is information policy enforcement, or information stewardship. There is
massive dissonance in terms of defining the scope of the work, who should do it, and how. Even
worse, most data-related vendors have as much experience with information governance work as
do end-user organizations virtually none. The only place where this takes place well (today) is in
regulated industries under the auspices of compliance.
Market Implications:
Information governance has become a very hot and important topic for our clients. In information
management, it remains one of the top 10 most discussed topics every month for the last two
years. It is bandied about as the answer to making value from insight related to big data and data
lakes sustainable. It is the silver bullet in terms of embedding MDM at the heart of business
application landscapes. It's the secret sauce, even if a different name is used (for example, data
advocate) for getting more value from information. The reality is hugely different: Few organizations
have actively embedded the work of policy enforcement in the context of day-to-day business
operations; the majority of surveys we do show that the majority of organizations think information
stewardship is what IT does, or that every user of business apps or data warehouses are stewards.
Thus, the work is not being done properly or in a manner that is scalable, repeatable or sustainable.
The odds are that this situation will persist for some years to come. As a result, the great majority of

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information governance programs whatever their name or scope will fail to live up to
expectations and yield the business benefit desired of them.
Recommendations:
Information leaders must:

Create/define a clear role for an information steward.

"Sell" the work of information stewardship as "chief problem solving" for those business
outcomes and processes held hostage to information challenged. Communicate that
information governance and stewardship are not "data issues" but "business issues."

Focus on those business outcomes and processes that are most important to business users.
Do not focus on data unrelated to these.

Explain to business leaders and users how the work of information stewardship adds and
augments business value to outcomes and business processes.

Leverage technology, where possible, to help automate and scale the work of policy
enforcement in an environment and user experience most friendly and meaningful to business
users.

Related Research:
"Governing the Information Governance Board"
"Toolkit: Assess Your Information Governance Initiative"
"Operationalize Information Governance With Technology Support"

A Look Back
In response to your requests, we are taking a look back at some key predictions from previous years.
We have intentionally selected predictions from opposite ends of the scale one where we were
wholly or largely on target, as well as one we missed.
On Target: 2013 Prediction By 2016, 30% of businesses will have begun directly or indirectly
monetizing their information assets via bartering or selling them outright.
Our research (229 clients surveyed in August 2015) indicates that 50% of organization contend they
are monetizing their data directly or indirectly. Ten percent claim they are selling their data on their
own, 6% are exchanging data for goods and services, and 3% are selling data via a third party.
However, we believe that so many organizations (especially those in retail, telecommunications,
travel/hospitality and utilities) reap economic benefits via data exchange but do so quietly at the
risk of customer backlash.
Missed: 2013 Prediction By 2015, 25% of the global demand for big data jobs will be driven by
the financial services industry.
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Big data infrastructure and analytics adoption have grown rapidly and become mainstream to span
all industries. Skill shortages are cited by 36% of organizations in 2015 (up from 30% the previous
year). While the financial services industry general leads in big data skill demand, it does not nearly
account for a quarter of all demand. Demand among telecommunications, retail, government, travel
and energy are nearly as strong.

Gartner Recommended Reading

Some documents may not be available as part of your current Gartner subscription.
"Why and How to Measure the Value of Your Information Assets"
"How Chief Data Officers Can Help Their Information Stewards"
"Survey Analysis: Practical Challenges Mount as Big Data Moves to Mainstream"
"How Organizations Can Best Monetize Customer Data"
"Market Trends: Innovative Pricing Helps CSPs Monetize Data and Differentiate Services"
"Seven Steps to Monetizing Your Information Assets"
"Governing the Information Governance Board"
"How to Put an Implementable IoT Strategy in Place"
"CDO Reporting Relationships Can Make or Break Your Information Management Program"
"Should CIOs Aspire to the Chief Digital Officer Role?"
More on This Topic
This is part of an in-depth collection of research. See the collection:

Predicts 2016: Algorithms Take Digital Business to the Next Level

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