Becoming a data-driven organization is a multiyear journey involving transformation of three dimensions. This is no mean feat and requires organizations to work with a transformative partner that has expertise and experience in cloud platforms as well as tools and strategies to address data for business and data strategy needs. This helps EMEA organizations to use the technology expertise, scale, and experience of the strategic partner to plug skills gaps. This co-creation can also help organizations focus better on their competencies and IP to create a unique and successful blueprint. For data-driven success, EMEA organizations should move beyond a transactional partnership to a long-term strategic partnership.
How to Choose the Right Technology Partner and Co-Create Success
Becoming data driven is a team sport and requires organizations to be in complete control of several attributes across the data strategy, data for business, and data foundation dimensions. IDC believes that by partnering with an experienced data technology provider, the organizations can tap into the provider’s expertise to co-create the strategy, assess strengths and limitations, prioritize actions, and design a personalized path to become data driven.
When looking for a partner, here is a checklist of questions:
- Does the partner bring the experience and a rich portfolio of data foundation technologies that align with your data strategy vision?
- Does it give you the flexibility and integration expertise to enable you to progress at your pace and on your terms?
- Can the partner deliver full-stack capabilities to enable you to eliminate complexities and management overheads and focus more on developing new data products, improve security and quality, and empower data teams?
- Is the partner continuously innovating and engineering newer capabilities? Is the technology foundation future ready and does it enable you to add accelerators such as AI and ML, search capabilities, and data mesh architectures as you go along?
- Does it have a good reputation to deliver continuous support, transparency, and cost optimization?
Non-technical criteria are equally important. Some criteria to include in the checklist are:
- Credibility and track record in helping EMEA organizations become data driven
- The presence of a strong data stewards and talent team that can work closely with your internal team to co-create success
- Ability to help you in adjacent areas such as developing skills and culture, or identifying new use cases, breaking down silos of teams and data platforms, and aligning data foundation to business outcomes
Many organizations are stuck in the Data Explorer category, indicating that the final journey toward maturity is the hardest and requires end-to-end transformation.
Working with the right partner can help organizations to flourish in all three dimensions and view business data through a fresh lens. IDC believes that technology partnerships can help them to adapt to new market contexts such as the impact of digital sovereignty.
Only 18% of organizations have mechanisms in place to ensure that their cloud and data platforms adhere to the principles of digital sovereignty of data residency and operational controls. But 31% of organizations are planning to use sovereign clouds for data platforms. Mature organizations are more aware of the importance of digital sovereignty in building trust with their customers, ecosystem, and government. 42% of Data Thrivers say they plan to use sovereign clouds.
Telco clouds are also becoming more prominent. IDC believes this may be because EMEA organizations plan to leverage telcos’ 5G capabilities to build out their edge data stewardship.
