Building a Data Vision Board: A Guide to Strategic Planning

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Dec 23, 2024

Lior Barak, a data expert with 15 years of experience in data product strategy, shares invaluable insights on strategic planning in data management. He introduces the concept of a 'data vision board' as a tool for organizations to align their data strategies with regulatory and stakeholder needs. Lior emphasizes the importance of balancing immediate demands with long-term goals, quantifying data issues for prioritization, and maintaining a flexible, living strategic plan. His practical advice encourages data teams to transition from mere enablers to impactful creators.

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ANECDOTE

Accidental Data Career Start

Lior Barak's data career began accidentally when his SQL skills were noticed.
He transitioned from account management to a data team, starting with MySQL extraction.

INSIGHT

Impact Over Enablement

Data teams should prioritize impact over simply enabling other teams' requests.
Focusing on impact demonstrates data's contribution to the organization's goals.

ADVICE

Document Structure

Use the McKinsey pyramid principle to structure data strategy documents.
Start with high-level summaries, then provide deeper dives into specific points.

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Summary
In this episode of the Data Engineering Podcast Lior Barak shares his insights on developing a three-year strategic vision for data management. He discusses the importance of having a strategic plan for data, highlighting the need for data teams to focus on impact rather than just enablement. He introduces the concept of a "data vision board" and explains how it can help organizations outline their strategic vision by considering three key forces: regulation, stakeholders, and organizational goals. Lior emphasizes the importance of balancing short-term pressures with long-term strategic goals, quantifying the cost of data issues to prioritize effectively, and maintaining the strategic vision as a living document through regular reviews. He encourages data teams to shift from being enablers to impact creators and provides practical advice on implementing a data vision board, setting clear KPIs, and embracing a product mindset to create tangible business impacts through strategic data management.

Announcements

Hello and welcome to the Data Engineering Podcast, the show about modern data management
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Your host is Tobias Macey and today I'm interviewing Lior Barak about how to develop your three year strategic vision for data

Interview

Introduction
How did you get involved in the area of data management?
Can you start by giving an outline of the types of problems that occur as a result of not developing a strategic plan for an organization's data systems?
What is the format that you recommend for capturing that strategic vision?
- What are the types of decisions and details that you believe should be included in a vision statement?
Why is a 3 year horizon beneficial? What does that scale of time encourage/discourage in the debate and decision-making process?
Who are the personas that should be included in the process of developing this strategy document?
Can you walk us through the steps and processes involved in developing the data vision board for an organization?
What are the time-frames or milestones that should lead to revisiting and revising the strategic objectives?
What are the most interesting, innovative, or unexpected ways that you have seen a data vision strategy used?
What are the most interesting, unexpected, or challenging lessons that you have learned while working on data strategy development?
When is a data vision board the wrong choice?
What are some additional resources or practices that you recommend teams invest in as a supplement to this strategic vision exercise?

Contact Info

Parting Question

From your perspective, what is the biggest gap in the tooling or technology for data management today?

Closing Announcements

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The intro and outro music is from The Hug by The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA