Malcolm Hawker - Head of Data Strategy at Profisee
Mar 8, 2024
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In this podcast, Malcolm Hawker and Joe discuss the evolution and challenges of Master Data Management, the importance of governance in data management, and the future of data leadership. They also explore the value dilemma of data products and the potential of semantic layers in data management beyond analytics.
MDM initiatives should start with limited scope for short-term wins.
Balancing foundational data governance with integrating AI solutions is crucial for sustainable success.
Deep dives
Malcolm Hawker's Background and Expertise in Data Management
Malcolm Hawker, the head of Data Strategy at Prophecy, shares his journey from being an analyst at Gartner to his current role at Prophecy. With over 30 years of experience, he emphasizes the value of data, governance, and Master Data Management (MDM). Through field CDO roles, he engages with clients, speaks at industry events, and shares insights from his extensive background.
Starting Small and Focusing on Short-Term Wins in MDM
Malcolm discusses the importance of starting MDM initiatives with limited scope to achieve short-term wins. He advocates for an analytical style of MDM, focusing on creating a single view of entities like customers or products without immediately changing core data quality issues. By gradually aligning to operational impacts and emphasizing business value, organizations can avoid overwhelming transformations and gain early successes.
The Challenge of Aligning Data Management with Business Needs
Malcolm highlights the common approach of data professionals starting from the bottom up in problem-solving, focusing on data specifics before understanding business objectives. He contrasts this with a top-down strategic approach, where the problem to be solved is identified first. By prioritizing business processes over data specifics, organizations can achieve more targeted and impactful outcomes.
Balancing Data Governance with AI Integration
Malcolm addresses the balancing act between focusing on foundational data governance and integrating AI solutions. While acknowledging the allure of AI advancements, he advises organizations to walk and chew gum simultaneously by prioritizing both data management maturity and operationalizing AI for immediate value. By avoiding chasing short-term trends and focusing on long-term strategic foundations, organizations can position themselves for sustainable success in the evolving data landscape.
Enterprise Knowledge COO Joe Hilger speaks with Malcolm Hawker, Head of Data Strategy at Profisee. Profisee's cloud-native MDM solution fully cleans and unifies data for your organization, and can easily scale up, down, and across your different business functions — so your organization can finally make it happen.
In this episode, Joe and Malcolm discuss Malcolm's
journey in data management, the evolution of MDM (Master Data
Management), and the future of data leadership. Malcolm shares insights from his extensive career, emphasizing the importance of governance, MDM's value, and the challenges of ensuring data quality and utility across enterprises.