Build a Data Architecture Roadmap

Optimizing data architecture requires a plan, not just a data model.

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

Integral to an insight-driven enterprise is a modern and business-driven data environment.

“As business and data landscapes change, an organization’s data architecture needs to be able to keep pace with these changes. It needs to be responsive so as to not only ensure the organization continues to operate efficiently but that it supports the overall strategic direction of the organization.

In the dynamic marketplace of today, organizations are constantly juggling disruptive forces and are finding the need to be more proactive rather than reactive. As such, organizations are finding their data to be a source of competitive advantage where the data architecture has to be able to not only support the increasing amount, sources, and rate at which organizations are capturing and collecting data but also be able to meet and deliver on changing business needs.

Data architecture optimization should, therefore, aid in breaking down data silos and creating a more shared and all-encompassing data environment for better empowering the business.” (Crystal Singh, Director, Research, Data and Information Practice, Info-Tech Research Group)

Our understanding of the problem

Executive summary

Situation

• The data architecture of a modern organization involves many moving pieces requiring coordination to provide greatest value from data.
• Data architects are at the center of this turmoil and must be able to translate high-level business requirements into specific instructions for data workers using complex data models.

Complication

• Data architects must account for the constantly growing data and application complexity, and more demanding needs from the business.
• There is an ever-increasing number of data sources and a growing need to integrate components to ensure that performance isn’t compromised.
• There isn’t always a clearly defined data architect role, yet the responsibilities must be filled to get maximum value from data.

Resolution

• To deal with these challenges, a data architect must have a framework in place to identify the appropriate solution for the challenge at hand.
  • Identify and prioritize the business drivers in which data architecture changes would create the largest overall benefit, and determine the corresponding data architecture tiers that need to be addressed to customize your solution.
  • Discover the best practice trends, measure your current state, and define the targets for your data architecture tactics.
  • Build a cohesive and personalized roadmap for restructuring your data architecture. Manage your decisions and resulting changes.

Info-Tech Insight

1. Data architecture is not just about models. Viewing data architecture as just technical data modeling can lead to a data environment that does not aptly serve or support the business. Identify the priorities of your business and adapt your data architecture to those needs.
2. Changes to data architecture are typically driven by four common business driver patterns. Use these as a shortcut to understand how to evolve your data architecture.
3. Data is used differently across the layers of an organization’s data architecture; therefore, the capabilities needed to optimize the use of data change with it. Architecting and managing data from source to warehousing to presentation requires different tactics for optimal use.

Your data is the foundation of your organization’s knowledge and ability to make decisions

Data should be at the foundation of your organization’s evolution.

The transformational insights that executives are constantly seeking to leverage can be uncovered with a data practice that makes high quality, trustworthy information readily available to the business users who need it.

50% Organizations that embrace data are 50% more likely to launch products and services ahead of their competitors. (Nesta, 2016)

Whether hoping to gain a better understanding of your business or trying to become an innovator in your industry, any organization can get value from its data regardless of where you are in your journey to becoming a data-driven enterprise:

As organizations seek to become more data driven, it is imperative to better manage data for its effective use

Here comes the zettabyte era.

A zettabyte is a billion terabytes. Organizations today need to measure their data size in zettabytes, a challenge that is only compounded by the speed at which the data is expected to move.

Arriving at the understanding that data can be the driving force of your organization is just the first step. The reality is that the true hurdles to overcome are in facing the challenges of today’s data landscape.

“The data environment is very chaotic nowadays. Legacy applications, data sprawl – organizations are grappling with what their data landscape looks like. Where are our data assets that we need to use?” (Andrew Johnston, Independent Consultant)

Solution

Well-defined and structured data management practices are the best way to mitigate the limitations that derive from these challenges and leverage the most possible value from your data.

Refer to Info-Tech’s capstone Create a Plan For Establishing a Business-Aligned Data Management Practice blueprint to understand data quality in the context of data disciplines and methods for improving your data management capabilities.

Data architecture is an integral aspect of data management

Data architects must maintain a comprehensive view of the organization’s rapidly proliferating data

The data architect: Acts as a “translator” between the business and data workers to communicate data and technology requirements. Facilitates the creation of the data strategy. Manages the enterprise data model. Has a greater knowledge of operational and analytical data use cases. Recommends data management policies and standards, and maintains data management artifacts. Reviews project solution architectures and identifies cross impacts across the data lifecycle. Is a hands-on expert in data management and warehousing technologies. Is not necessarily it’s own designated position, but a role that can be completed by a variety of IT professionals.

Data architects bridge the gap between strategic and technical requirements: “Fundamentally, the role of a data architect is to understand the data in an organization at a reasonable level of abstraction.” (Andrew Johnston, Independent Consultant)

Many are experiencing the pains of poor data architecture, but leading organizations are proactively tackling these issues

Outdated and archaic systems and processes limit the ability to access data in a timely and efficient manner, ultimately diminishing the value your data should bring.

Intuitive organizations who have recognized these shortcomings have already begun the transition to modernized and optimized systems and processes.

Leading organizations are attacking data architecture problems … you will be left behind if you do not start now!

Once on your path to redesigning your data architecture, neglecting the strategic elements may leave you ineffective

Focusing on only data models without the required data architecture guidance can cause harmful symptoms in your IT department, which will lead to organization-wide problems.

Follow Info-Tech’s methodology to optimize data architecture to meet the business needs

The following is a summary of Info-Tech’s methodology:

1	Prioritize your core business objectives and identify your business driver. Learn how business drivers apply to specific tiers of Info-Tech’s five-tier data architecture model. Determine the appropriate tactical pattern that addresses your most important requirements.
2	Select the areas of the five-tier architecture to focus on. Measure current state. Set the targets of your desired optimized state.
3	Roadmap your tactics. Manage and communicate change.

Info-Tech will get you to your optimized state faster by focusing on the important business issues

First Things First

1. Info-Tech’s methodology helps you to prioritize and establish the core strategic objectives behind your goal of modernizing data architecture. This will narrow your focus to the appropriate areas of your current data systems and processes that require the most attention.

Info-Tech has identified these four common drivers that lead to the need to optimize your data architecture.

• Becoming More Data Driven
• Regulations and Compliance
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• New Functionality or Business Rule

These different core objectives underline the motivation to optimize data architecture, and will determine your overall approach.

Use the five-tier architecture to provide a consumable view of your data architecture

Every organization’s data system requires a unique design and an assortment of applications and storage units to fit their business needs. Therefore, it is difficult to paint a picture of an ideal model that has universal applications. However, when data architecture is broken down in terms of layers or tiers, there exists a general structure that is seen in all data systems.

Thinking of your data systems and processes in this framework will allow you to see how different elements of the architecture relate to specific business operations.

Use the five-tier architecture to prioritize tactics to improve your data architecture in line with your pattern

Info-Tech’s Data Architecture Capability Model	Based on your business driver, the relevant data tiers, and your organization’s own specific requirements you will need to establish the appropriate data architecture capabilities. This blueprint will help you measure how you are currently performing in these capabilities… And help you define and set targets so you can reach your optimized state.
Once completed, these steps will be provided with the information you will need to create a comprehensive roadmap. Lastly, this blueprint will provide you with the tools to communicate this plan across your organization and offer change management guidelines to ensure successful adoption.	Info-Tech Insight Optimizing data architecture requires a tactical approach, not a passive approach. The demanding task of optimization requires the ability to heavily prioritize. After you have identified why, determine how using our pre-built roadmap to address the four common drivers.

Do not forget: data architecture is not a standalone concept; it fits into the more holistic design of enterprise architecture

Data Architecture in Alignment Data architecture can not be designed to simply address the focus of data specialists or even the IT department. It must act as a key component in the all encompassing enterprise architecture and reflect the strategy and design of the entire business. Data architecture collaborates with application architecture in the delivery of effective information systems, and informs technology architecture on data related infrastructure requirements/considerations Please refer to the following blueprints to see the full picture of enterprise architecture: Select and Implement an EA Tool Enhance Your Application Architecture

Adapted from TOGAF Refer to Phase C of TOGAF and Bizbok for references to the components of business architecture that are used in data architecture.

Info-Tech’s data architecture optimization methodology helped a monetary authority fulfill strict regulatory pressures

CASE STUDY

Industry: Financial Source: Info-Tech Consulting

Look for this symbol as you walk through the blueprint for details on how Info-Tech Consulting assisted this monetary authority.

Situation: Strong external pressures required the monetary authority to update and optimize its data architecture.

The monetary authority is responsible for oversight of the financial situation of a country that takes in revenue from foreign incorporation. Due to increased pressure from international regulatory bodies, the monetary authority became responsible for generating multiple different types of beneficial ownership reports based on corporation ownership data within 24 hours of a request.

A stale and inefficient data architecture prevented the monetary authority from fulfilling external pressures.

Normally, the process to generate and provide beneficial ownership reports took a week or more. This was due to multiple points of stale data architecture, including a dependence on outdated legacy systems and a broken process for gathering the required data from a mix of paper and electronic sources.

Provide a structured approach to solving the problem

Info-Tech helped the monetary authority identify the business need that resulted from regulatory pressures, the challenges that needed to be overcome, and actionable tactics for addressing the needs.

Info-Tech’s methodology was followed to optimize the areas of data architecture that address the business driver.

• External Requirements
• Business Driver
  Diagnose Data Architecture Problems
  • Outdated architecture (paper, legacy systems)
  • Stale data from other agencies
  • Incomplete data
    Data Architecture Optimization Tactics
    1. Optimized Source Databases
    2. Improved Integration
    3. Data Warehouse Optimization
    4. Data Marts for Reports
    5. Report Delivery Efficiency

As you walk through this blueprint, watch for additional case studies that walk through the details of how Info-Tech helped this monetary authority.

This blueprint’s three-step process will help you optimize data architecture in your organization

Use these icons to help direct you as you navigate this research

Use these icons to help guide you through each step of the blueprint and direct you to content related to the recommended activities.

This icon denotes a slide where a supporting Info-Tech tool or template will help you perform the activity or step associated with the slide. Refer to the supporting tool or template to get the best results and proceed to the next step of the project.

This icon denotes a slide with an associated activity. The activity can be performed either as part of your project or with the support of Info-Tech team members, who will come onsite to facilitate a workshop for your organization.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Build a Business-Aligned Data Architecture Optimization Strategy – project overview

	PHASE 1 Prioritize Your Data Architecture With Business-Driven Tactics	PHASE 2 Personalize Your Tactics to Optimize Your Data Architecture	PHASE 3 Create Your Tactical Data Architecture Roadmap
Best-Practice Toolkit	1.1 Identify Your Business Driver for Optimizing Data Architecture 1.2 Determine Actionable Tactics to Optimize Data Architecture	2.1 Measure Your Data Architecture Capabilities 2.2 Set a Target for Data Architecture Capabilities 2.3 Identify the Tactics that Apply to Your Organization	3.1 Personalize Your Data Architecture Roadmap 3.2 Manage Your Data Architecture Decisions and the Resulting Changes
Guided Implementations	Understand what data architecture is, how it aligns with enterprise architecture, and how data architects support the needs of the business. Identify the business drivers that necessitate the optimization of the organization’s data architecture. Create a tactical plan to optimize data architecture across Info-Tech’s five-tier logical data architecture model.	Understand Info-Tech’s tactical data architecture capability model and measure the current state of these capabilities at the organization. Determine the target state of data architecture capabilities. Understand the trends in the field of data architecture and identify how they can fit into your environment.	Use the results of the data architecture capability gap assessment to determine the priority of activities to populate your personalized data architecture optimization roadmap. Understand how to manage change as a data architect or equivalent.
Onsite Workshop	Module 1: Identify the Drivers of the Business for Optimizing Data Architecture	Module 2: Create a Tactical Plan for Optimizing Data Architecture	Module 3: Create a Personalized Roadmap for Data Architecture Activities

Workshop overview

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

Build a Business-Aligned Data Architecture Optimization Strategy

PHASE 1

Prioritize Your Data Architecture With Business-Driven Tactics

Phase 1 outline

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Guided Implementation 1: Prioritize Your Data Architecture With Business-Driven Tactics

Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks

Phase 1 will help you create a strategy to optimize your data architecture using actionable tactics

In this phase, you will determine your focus for optimizing your data architecture based on the business drivers that are commonly felt by most organizations.

1. Identify the business drivers that necessitate data architecture optimization efforts.
2. Understand Info-Tech’s Five-Tier Data Architecture, a logical architecture model that will help you prioritize tactics for optimizing your data architecture environment.
3. Identify tactics for optimizing the organization’s data architecture across the five tiers.

“To stay competitive, we need to become more data-driven. Compliance pressures are becoming more demanding. We need to add a new functionality.”

Info-Tech’s Five-Tier Data Architecture:

1. Data Sources
2. Data Integration and Translation
3. Data Warehousing
4. Data Analytics
5. Data Presentation

Tactical plan for Data Architecture Optimization

Phase 1, Step 1: Identify Your Business Driver for Optimizing Data Architecture

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Understand how data architecture fits into the organization’s larger enterprise architecture.
• Understand what data architecture is and how it should be driven by the business.
• Identify the driver that is creating a need for data architecture optimization.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect
• Enterprise Architect

Outcomes of this step

• A starting point for the many responsibilities of the data architect role. Balancing business and technical requirements can be challenging, and to do so you need to first understand what is driving the need for data architecture improvements.
• Holistic understanding of the organization’s architecture environment, including enterprise, application, data, and technology architectures and how they interact.

Data architecture involves planning, communication, and understanding of technology

Data Architecture

A description of the structure and interaction of the enterprise’s major types and sources of data, logical data assets, physical data assets, and data management resources (TOGAF 9).

The subject area of data management that defines the data needs of the enterprise and designs the master blueprints to meet those needs (DAMA DMBOK, 2009).

IBM (2007) defines data architecture as the design of systems and applications that facilitate data availability and distribution across the enterprise.

Definitions vary slightly across major architecture and management frameworks.

However, there is a general consensus that data architecture provides organizations with:

• Alignment
• Planning
• Road mapping
• Change management
• A guide for the organization’s data management program

Data architecture must be based on business goals and objectives; developed within the technical strategies, constraints, and opportunities of the organization in support of providing a foundation for data management.

Info-Tech Insight

Data Architecture is not just data models. Data architects must understand the needs of the business, as well as the existing people and processes that already exist in the organization to effectively perform their job.

Review how data architecture fits into the broader architectural context

		Each layer of architecture informs the next. In other words, each layer has components that execute processes and offer services to the next layer. For example, data architecture can be broken down into more granular activities and processes that inform how the organization’s technology architecture should be arranged.
Data does not exist on its own. It is informed by business architecture and used by other architectural domains to deliver systems, IT services, and to support business processes. As you build your practice, you must consider how data fits within the broader architectural framework.	The Zachman Framework is a widely used EA framework; within it, data is identified as the first domain. The framework aims to standardize artifacts (work-products) within each architectural domain, provides a cohesive view of the scope of EA and clearly delineates data components. Use the framework to ensure that your target DA practice is aligned to other domains within the EA framework.	(Source: Zachman International)

Data architects operate in alignment with the other various architecture groups

Data architects operate in alignment with the other various architecture groups, with coordination from the enterprise architect.

Enterprise Architect
The enterprise architect provides thought leadership and direction to domain architects.

They also maintain architectural standards across all the architectural domains and serve as a lead project solution architect on the most critical assignments.

• Business Architect
  A business subject matter expert who works with the line-of-business team to assist in business planning through capability-based planning.
• Security Architect
  Plays a pivotal role in formulating the security strategy of the organization, working with the business and CISO/security manager. Recommends and maintains security standards, policies, and best practices.
• Infrastructure Architect
  Recommends and maintains standards across the compute, storage, and network layers of the organization. Reviews project solution architectures to ensure compliance with infrastructure standards, regulations, and target state blueprints.
• Application Architect
  Manages the business effectiveness, satisfaction, and maintainability of the application portfolio. Conduct application architecture assessments to document expected quality attribute standards, identify hotspots, and recommend best practices.
• Data Architect
  Facilitates the creation of data strategy and has a greater understanding of operational and analytical data use cases. Manages the enterprise data model which includes all the three layers of modelling - conceptual, logical, and physical. Recommends data management policies and standards, and maintains data management artefacts. Reviews project solution architectures and identifies cross impacts across the data lifecycle.

As a data architect, you must maintain balance between the technical and the business requirements

The data architect role is integral to connecting the long-term goals of the business with how the organization plans to manage its data for optimal use.

Info-Tech Insight

The data architect role is not always clear cut. Many organizations do not have a dedicated data architect resource, and may not need one. However, the duties and responsibilities of the data architect must be carried out to some degree by a combination of resources as appropriate to the organization’s size and environment.

Understand the role of a data architect to ensure that essential responsibilities are covered in the organization

A database administrator (DBA) is not a data architect, and data architecture is not something you buy from an enterprise application vendor.

See Info-Tech’s Data Architect job description for a comprehensive description of the data architect role.

Leverage data architecture frameworks to understand how the role fits into the greater Enterprise Architecture framework

Enterprise data architectures are available from industry consortiums such as The Open Group (TOGAF®), and open source initiatives such as MIKE2.0.

The Open Group TOGAF enterprise architecture model is a detailed framework of models, methods, and supporting tools to create an enterprise-level architecture.

• TOGAF was first developed in 1995 and was based on the Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management (TAFIM) developed by the US Department of Defense.
• TOGAF includes application, data, and infrastructure architecture domains providing enterprise-level, product-neutral architecture principles, policies, methods, and models.
• As a member of The Open Group, it is possible to participate in ongoing TOGAF development initiatives.

The wide adoption of TOGAF has resulted in the mapping of it to several other industry standards including CoBIT and ITIL.

MIKE2.0 (Method for an Integrated Knowledge Environment), is an open source method for enterprise information management providing a framework for information development.

• SAFE (Strategic Architecture for the Federated Enterprise) provides the technology solution framework for MIKE2.0
• SAFE includes application, presentation, information, data, Infrastructure, and metadata architecture domains.

Info-Tech Best Practice

If an enterprise-level IT architecture is your goal, TOGAF is likely a better model. However, if you are an information and knowledge-based business then MIKE2.0 may be more relevant to your business.

The data architect must identify what drives the need for data from the business to create a business-driven architecture

As the business landscape evolves, new needs arise. An organization may undergo new compliance requirements, or look to improve their customer intimacy, which could require a new functionality from an application and its associated database.

There are four common scenarios that lead to an organization’s need to optimize its data architecture and these scenarios all present unique challenges for a data architect:

1. Becoming More Data Driven As organizations are looking to get more out of their data, there is a push for more accurate and timely data from applications. Data-driven decision making requires verifiable data from trustworthy sources. Result: Replace decisions made on gut or intuition with real and empirical data - make more informed and data-driven decisions.
2. New Functionality or Business Rule In order to succeed as business landscapes change, organizations find themselves innovating on products or services and the way they do things. Changes in business rules, product or service offering, and new functionalities can subsequently demand more from the existing data architecture. Result: Prepare yourself to successfully launch new business initiatives with an architecture that supports business needs.
3. Mergers and Acquisitions If an organization has recently acquired, been acquired, or is merging with another, the technological implications require careful planning to ensure a seamless fit. Application consolidation, retirement, data transfer, and integration points are crucial. Result: Leverage opportunities to incorporate and consolidate new synergistic assets to realize the ROI.
4. Risk and Compliance Data in highly regulated organizations needs to be kept safe and secure. Architectural decisions around data impact the level of compliance within the organization. Result: Avoid the fear of data audits, regulatory violations, and privacy breaches.

Info-Tech Best Practice

These are not the only reasons why data architects need to optimize the organization’s data architecture. These are only four of the most common scenarios, however, other business needs can be addressed using the same concept as these four common scenarios.

Use the Data Architecture Driver tool to identify your focus for data architecture

Follow Info-Tech’s process of first analyzing the needs of the business, then determining how best to architect your data based on these drivers. Data architecture needs to be able to rapidly evolve to support the strategic goals of the business, and the Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool will help you to prioritize your efforts to best do this.

Identify the drivers for improving your data architecture

INPUT: Data Architecture Driver tool assessment prompts.

OUTPUT: Identified business driver that applies to your organization.

Materials: Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool

Participants: Data architect, Enterprise architect

Interview the business to get clarity on business objectives and drivers

1.1.2 1 hour per interview

INPUT: Sample questions targeting the activities, challenges, and opportunities of each business unit

OUTPUT: Sample questions targeting the activities, challenges, and opportunities of each business unit

Materials: Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool

Participants: Data architect, Business representatives, IT representatives

Identify 2-3 business units that demonstrate enthusiasm for or a positive outlook on improving how organizational data can help them in their role and as a unit.

Conducting a deep-dive interview process with these key stakeholders will help further identify high-level goals for the data architecture strategy within each business unit. This process will help to secure their support throughout the implementation process by giving them a sense of ownership.

Key Interview Questions:

1. What are your primary activities? What do you do?
2. What challenges do you have when completing your activities?
3. How is poor data impacting your job?
4. If [your selected domain]’s data is improved, what business issues would this help solve?

Request background information and documentation from stakeholders regarding the following:

• What current data management policies and processes exist (that you know of)?
• Who are the data owners and end users?
• Where are the data sources within the department stored?
• Who has access to these data sources?
• Are there existing or ongoing data issues within those data sources?

Interview the enterprise architect to get input on the drivers of the business

1.1.3 2 hours

INPUT: Data Architecture Driver tool assessment prompts.

OUTPUT: Identified business driver that applies to your organization.

Materials: Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool

Participants: Data architect, Enterprise architect

Data architecture improvements need to be driven by business need.

Instructions As you work through Tab 2. Driver Identification of the Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool, consult with the enterprise architect or equivalent to assist you in rating the importance of each of the symptoms of the business drivers. This will help you provide greater value to the business and more aligned objectives.

Tab 2. Driver Identification

Once you know what that need is, go to Step 2.

Phase 1, Step 2: Establish Actionable Tactics to Optimize Data Architecture

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Understand Info-Tech’s five-tier data architecture to begin focusing your architectural optimization.
• Create your Data Architecture Optimization Template to plan your improvement tactics.
• Prioritize your tactics based on the five-tier architecture to plan optimization.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect
• Enterprise Architect
• DBAs

Outcomes of this step

• A tactical and prioritized plan for optimizing the organization’s data architecture according to the needs of the business.

To plan a business-driven architecture, data architects need to keep the organization’s big picture in mind

Remember… Architecting an organization involves alignment, planning, road mapping, design, and change management functions.

Data architects must be heavily involved with:

• Understanding the short- and long-term visions of the business to develop a vision for the organization’s data architecture.
• Creating processes for governing the identification, collection, and use of accurate and valid data, as well as for tracking data quality, completeness, and redundancy.
• They need to create strategies for data security, backup, disaster recovery, business continuity, and archiving, and ensure regulatory compliance.

To do this, you need a framework. A framework provides you with the holistic view of the organization’s data environment that you can use to design short- and long-term tactics for improving the use of data for the needs of the business.

Use Info-Tech’s five-tier data architecture to model your environment in a logical, consumable fashion.

Info-Tech Best Practice

The more complicated an environment is, the more need there is for a framework. Being able to pick a starting point and prioritize tasks is one of the most difficult, yet most essential, aspects of any architect’s role.

The five tiers of an organization’s data architecture support the use of data throughout its lifecycle

Info-Tech’s five-tier data architecture model summarizes an organization’s data environment at a logical level. Data flows from left to right, but can also flow from the presentation layer back to the warehousing layer for repatriation of data.

Use the Data Architecture Optimization Template to build your improvement roadmap

Download the Data Architecture Optimization Template.

Overview

Use this template to support your team in creating a tactical strategy for optimizing your data architecture across the five tiers of the organization’s architecture. This template can be used to document your organization’s most pressing business driver, the reasons for optimizing data architecture according to that driver, and the tactics that will be employed to address the shortcomings in the architecture.

	Info-Tech’s Data Architecture Optimization Template	Table of Contents
		1. Build Your Current Data Architecture Logical Model	Use this section to document the current data architecture situation, which will provide context for your plan to optimize your data architecture.
		2. Optimization Plan	Use this section to document the tactics that will be employed to optimize the current data architecture according to the tactic pattern identified by the business driver.

Fill out as you go

As you read about the details of the five-tier data architecture model in the following slides, start building your current logical data architecture model by filling out the sections that correspond to the various tiers. For example, if you identified that the most pressing business driver is becoming compliant with regulations, document the sources of data required for compliance, as well as the warehousing strategy currently being employed. This will help you to understand the organization’s data architecture at a logical level.

Tier 1 represents all of the sources of your organization’s data

–› Data to integration layer

Tier 1 is where the data enters the organization. All applications, data documents such as MS Excel spreadsheets, documents with table entries, manual extractions from other document types, user-level databases including MS Access and MySQL, other data sources, data feeds, big datasets, etc. reside here. This tier typically holds the siloed data that is so often not available across the enterprise because the data is held within department-level applications or systems. This is also the layer where transactions and operational activities occur and where data is first created or ingested. There are any number of business activities from transactions through business processes that require data to flow from one system to another, so it is often at this layer we see data created more than once, data corruption occurs, manual re-keying of data from system to system, and spaghetti-like point-to-point connections are built that are often fragile. This is usually the single most problematic area within an enterprise’s data environment. Application- or operational-level (siloed) reporting often occurs at this level. Info-Tech Best Practice An optimized Tier 1 has the following attributes: Rationalized applications Operationalized database administration Databases governed, monitored, and maintained to ensure optimal performance

Tier 2 represents the movement of data

–› Data to Warehouse Environment Find out more For more information on data integration, see Info-Tech’s Optimize the Organization’s Data Integration Practices blueprint.

Tier 2 is where integration, transformation, and aggregation occur. Regardless of how you integrate your systems and data stores, whether via ETL, ESB, SOA, data hub, ODS, point-to-point, etc., the goal of this layer is to move data at differing speeds for one of two main purposes: 1) To move data from originating systems to downstream systems to support integrated business processes. This ensures the data is pristine through the process and improves trustworthiness of outcomes and speed to task and process completion. 2) To move data to Tier 3 - The Data Warehouse Architecture, where data rests for other purposes. This movement of data in its purest form means we move raw data to storage locations in an overall data warehouse environment reflecting any security, compliance and other standards in our choices for how to store. Also, this is where data is transformed for unique business purpose that will also be moved to a place of rest or a place of specific use. Data masking, scrambling, aggregation, cleansing and matching, and other data related blending tasks occur at this layer. Info-Tech Best Practice An optimized Tier 2 has the following attributes: Business data glossary is leveraged ETL is governed ETL team is empowered Data matching is facilitated Canonical data model is present

Tier 3 is where data comes together from all sources to be stored in a central warehouse environment

Tier 3 is where data rests in long-term storage. This is where data rests (long-term storage) and also where an enterprise’s information, documents, digital assets, and any other content types are stored. This is also where derived and contrived data creations are stored for re-use, and where formulas, thought models, heuristics, algorithms, report styles, templates, dashboard styles, and presentations-layer widgets are all stored in the enterprise information management system. At this layer there may be many technologies and many layers of security to reflect data domains, classifications, retention, compliance, and other data needs. This is also the layer where data lakes exist as well as traditional relational databases, enterprise database systems, enterprise content management systems, and simple user-level databases. Info-Tech Best Practice An optimized Tier 3 has the following attributes: Data warehouse is governed Data warehouse operations and planning Data library is comprehensive Four Rosetta Stones of data are in place: BDG, data classification, reference data, master data.

Data from integration layer –› –› Analytics Find out more For more information on Data Warehousing, see Info-Tech’s Build an Extensible Data Warehouse Foundation and Drive Business Innovation With a Modernized Data Warehouse Environment blueprints.

Tier 4 is where knowledge and insight is born

Tier 4 represents data being used for a purpose. This is where you build fit-for-purpose data sets (marts, cubes, flat files) that may now draw from all enterprise data and information sources as held in Tier 3. This is the first place where enterprise views of all data may be effectively done and with trust that golden records from systems of record are being used properly. This is also the layer where BI tools get their greatest use for performing analysis. Unlike Tier 3 where data is at rest, this tier is where data moves back into action. Data is brought together in unique combinations to support reporting, and analytics. It is here that the following enterprise analytic views are crafted: Exploratory, Inferential, Causal, Comparative, Statistical, Descriptive, Diagnostic, Hypothesis, Predictive, Decisional, Directional, Prescriptive Info-Tech Best Practice An optimized Tier 4 has the following attributes: Reporting meets business needs Data mart operations are in place Governance of data marts, cubes, and BI tools in place

Warehouse Environment –› –› Presentation Find out more For more information on BI tools and strategy, see Info-Tech’s Select and Implement a Business Intelligence and Analytics Solution and Build a Next Generation BI with a Game-Changing BI Strategy blueprints.

The presentation layer, Tier 5, is where data becomes presentable information

Tier 5 represents data in knowledge form. This is where the data and information combine in information insight mapping methods (presentations, templates, etc.). We craft and create new ways to slice and dice data in Tier 4 to be shown and shared in Tier 5. Templates for presenting insights are extremely valuable to an enterprise, both for their initial use, and for the ability to build deeper, more insightful analytics. Re-use of these also enables maximum speed for sharing, consuming the outputs, and collective understanding of these deeper meanings that is a critical asset to any enterprise. These derived datasets and the thought models, presentation styles, templates, and other derived and contrived assets should be repatriated into the derived data repositories and the enterprise information management systems respectively as shown in Tier 3. Find out more For more information on enterprise content management and metadata, see Info-Tech’s Develop an ECM Strategy and Break Open Your DAM With Intuitive Metadata blueprints.
Info-Tech Best Practice An optimized Tier 5 has the following attributes: Metadata creation is supervised Metadata is organized Metadata is governed Content management capabilities are present	Info-Tech Insight Repatriation of data and information is an essential activity for all organizations to manage organizational knowledge. This is the activity where information, knowledge, and insights that are stored in content form are moved back to the warehousing layer for long-term storage. Because of this, it is crucial to have an effective ECM strategy as well as the means to find information quickly and efficiently. This is where metadata and taxonomy come in.

As a data architect, you must prioritize your focus according to business need

Determine your focus.

Now that you have an understanding of the drivers requiring data architecture optimization, as well as the current data architecture situation at your organization, it is time to determine the actions that will be taken to address the driver.

1. Business driver	Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool, Tab 2. Tactic Pattern Plan	3. Documented tactic plan Data Architecture Optimization Template
2. Tactics across the five tiers

The next four slides provide an overview of the priorities that accompany the four most common business drivers that require updates to a stale data architecture.

Business driver #1: Adding a new functionality to an application can have wide impacts on data architecture

Does the business wants to add a new application or supplement an existing application with a new functionality?

Whether the business wants to gain better customer intimacy, achieve operational excellence, or needs to change its compliance and reporting strategy, the need for collecting new data through a new application or a new functionality within an existing application can arise. This business driver has the following attributes:

Often operational oriented and application driven. An application is changed through an application version upgrade, migration to cloud, or application customization, or as a result of application rationalization or changes in the way that application data is generated. However, not all new functionalities trigger this scenario. Non-data-related changes, such as a new interface, new workflows, or any other application functionality changes that do not involve data, will not have data architecture impacts.
	When this business driver arises, data architects should focus on optimizing architecture at the source tier and the integration of the new functionality.	Tactics for this business driver should address the following pattern:

Business driver #2: Organizations today are looking to become more data driven

Does the business wants to better leverage its data?

An organization can want to use its data for multiple reasons. Whether these reasons include improving customer experience or operational excellence, the data architect must ensure that the organization’s data aggregation environment, reporting and analytics, and presentation layer are assessed and optimized for serving the needs of the business.

“Data-drivenness is about building tools, abilities, and, most crucially, a culture that acts on data.” (Carl Anderson, Creating a Data-Driven Organization)

Tactics for this business driver should address the following pattern:			When this business driver arises, data architects should focus on optimizing architecture at the source tier and the integration of the new functionality.
	This scenario is typically project driven and analytical oriented. The business is looking to leverage data and information by processing data through BI tools and self-service. Example: The organization wants to include new third-party data, and needs to build a new data mart to provide a slice of data for analysis.

Business driver #3: Risk and compliance demands can put pressure on outdated architectures

Is there increasing pressure on the business to maintain compliance requirements as per regulations?

An organization can want to use its data for multiple reasons. Whether these reasons include improving customer experience or operational excellence, the data architect must ensure that the organization’s data aggregation environment, reporting and analytics, and presentation layer are assessed and optimized for serving the needs of the business.

There are different types of requirements: Can be data-element driven. For example, PII, PHI are requirements around data elements that are associated with personal and health information. Can be process driven. For example, some requirements restrict data read/write to certain groups.
	When this business driver arises, data architects should focus on optimizing architecture where data is stored: at the sources, the warehouse environment, and analytics layer.	Tactics for this business driver should address the following pattern:

Business driver #4: Mergers and acquisitions can require a restructuring of the organization’s data architecture

Is the organization looking to acquire or merge with another organization or line of business? There are three scenarios that encompass the mergers and acquisitions business driver for data architecture: The organization acquires/merges with another organization and wants to integrate the data. The organization acquires/merges a subset of an organization (a line of business, for example) and wants to integrate the data. The organization acquires another organization for competitive purposes, and does not need to integrate the data.		Regardless of what scenario your organization falls into, you must go through the same process of identifying the requirements for the new data: Understand what data you are getting. The business may acquire another organization for the data, for the technology, and/or for algorithms (for example). If the goal is to integrate the new data, you must understand if the data is unstructured, structured, how much data, etc. Plan for the integration of the new data into your environment. Do you have the expertise in-house to integrate the data? Database structures and systems are often mismatched (for example, acquired company could have an Oracle database whereas you are an SAP shop) and this may require expertise from the acquired company or a third party. Integrate the new data. Often, the extraction of the new data is the easy part. Transforming and loading the data is the difficult and costly part.
“As a data architect, you must do due diligence of the acquired firm. What are the workflows, what are the data sources, what data is useful, what is useless, what is the value of the data, and what are the risks of embedding the data?” (Anonymous Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant)
	When this business driver arises, data architects should focus on optimizing architecture at the source tier, the warehousing layer, and analytics.

Determine your tier priority pattern and the tactics that you should address based on the business drivers

1.2.1 30 minutes

INPUT: Business driver assessment

OUTPUT: Tactic pattern and tactic plan

Materials: Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool, Data Architecture Optimization Template

Participants: Data architect, Enterprise architect

Instructions After you have assessed the organization’s business driver on Tab 1. Driver Identification, move to Tab 2. Tactic Pattern Plan. Here, you will find a summary of the business driver that applies to you, as well as the tier priority pattern that will help you to focus your efforts for data architecture. Document the Tier Priority Pattern and associated tactics in Section 2. Optimization Plan of the Data Architecture Optimization Plan.
Data Architecture Driver Tool		Data Architecture Optimization Template

Info-Tech Insight

Our approach will help you to get to the solution of the organization’s data architecture problems as quickly as possible. However, keep in mind that you should still address the other tiers of your data architecture even if they are not part of the pattern we identified. For example, if you need to become more data driven, don’t completely ignore the sources and the integration of data. However, to deliver the most and quickest value, focus on tiers 3, 4, and 5.

This phase helped you to create a tactical plan to optimize your data architecture according to business priorities

Phase 1 is all about focus.

Data architects and those responsible for updating an organization’s data architecture have a wide-open playing field with which to take their efforts. Being able to narrow down your focus and generate an actionable plan will help you provide more value to the organization quickly and get the most out of your data.

Phase 1
• Business Drivers
  • Tactic Pattern
    • Tactical Plan

Now that you have your prioritized tactical plan, move to Phase 2. This phase will help you map these priorities to the essential capabilities and measure where you stack up in these capabilities. This is an essential step in creating your data architecture roadmap and plan for coming years to modernize the organization’s data architecture.

To identify what the monetary authority needed from its data architecture, Info-Tech helped determine the business driver

CASE STUDY

Industry: Financial Source: Info-Tech Consulting

Part 1

Prior to receiving new external requirements, the monetary Authority body had been operating with an inefficient system. Outdated legacy systems, reports in paper form, incomplete reports, and stale data from other agencies resulted in slow data access. The new requirements demanded speeding up this process. Although the organization understood it needed changes, it first needed to establish what were the business objectives, and which areas of their architecture they would need to focus on. The business driver in this case was compliance requirements, which directed attention to the sources, aggregation, and insights tiers.

Looking at the how the different tiers relate to certain business operations, the organization uncovered the best practise tactics to achieving an optimized data architecture. 1. Source Tactics: 3. Warehousing Tactics: 4. Analytics Tactics: Identify data sources Ensure data quality Properly catalogue data Properly index data Provide the means for data accessibility Allow for data reduction/space for report building Once the business driver had been established, the organization was able to identify the specific areas it would eventually need to evaluate and remedy as needed.

If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop

Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team. Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop. Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

1.1.1		Identify the business driver that will set the direction of your data architecture optimization plan. In this activity, the facilitator will guide the team in identifying the business driver that is creating the need to improve the organization’s data architecture. Data architecture needs to adapt to the changing needs of the business, so this is the most important step of any data architecture improvements.
1.2.1		Determine the tactics that you will use to optimize data architecture. In this activity, the facilitator will help the team create a tactical plan for optimizing the organization’s data architecture across the five tiers of the logical model. This plan can then be followed when addressing the business needs.

Build a Business-Aligned Data Architecture Optimization Strategy

PHASE 2

Personalize Your Tactics to Optimize Your Data Architecture

Phase 2 will determine your tactics that you should implement to optimize your data architecture

Phase 2 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Guided Implementation 2: Personalize Your Tactics to Optimize Your Data Architecture

Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks

Phase 2, Step 1: Measure Your Data Architecture Capabilities

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• As you walk through the data architecture capability model, measure your current state in each of the relevant capabilities.
• Distinguish between essential and nice-to-have capabilities for your organization.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect

Outcomes of this step

• A framework for generating a tactical plan for data architecture optimization.
• Knowledge of the various trends in the data architecture field that can be incorporated into your plan.

To personalize your tactical strategy, you must measure up your base data architecture capabilities

What is a capability?

Capabilities represent a mixture of people, technology, and processes. The focus of capability design is on the outcome and the effective use of resources to produce a differentiating capability or an essential supporting capability.

To personalize your tactics, you have to understand what the essential capabilities are across the five tiers of an organization’s data architecture. Then, assess where you currently stand in these capabilities and where you need to go in order to build your optimization plan.

Info-Tech’s data architecture capability model can be laid over the five-tier data architecture to understand the essential and advanced capabilities that an organization should have, and to build your tactical strategy for optimizing the organization’s data architecture across the tiers.

Use Info-Tech’s data architecture capability model as a resource to assess and plan your personalized tactics

Info-Tech’s data architecture capability model can be laid over the five-tier data architecture to understand the essential and advanced capabilities that an organization should have, and to build your tactical strategy for optimizing the organization’s data architecture across the tiers.

Use the Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool to create a tailored plan of action

2.1.1 Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool

Benefits of using this tool:

• Comprehensive documentation of data architecture capabilities present in leading organizations.
• Generates an accurate architecture roadmap for your organization that is developed in alignment with the broader enterprise architecture and related architectural domains.

To create a plan for your data architecture priorities, you must first understand where you currently stand

Now that you understand the business problem that you are trying to solve, it is time to take action in solving the problem.

The organization likely has some of the capabilities that are needed to solve the problem, but also a need to improve other capabilities. To narrow down the capabilities that you should focus on, first select the business driver that was identified in Phase 1 in Tab 1. Business Driver Input of the Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool. This will customize the roadmap tool to deselect the capabilities that are likely to be less relevant to your organization.

For Example: If you identified your business driver as “becoming more data-driven”, you will want to focus on measuring and building out the capabilities within Tiers 3, 4, and 5 of the capability model.

Data Architecture Capability Model

Note If you want to assess your organization for all of the capabilities across the data architecture capability model, select “Comprehensive Data Architecture Assessment” in Tab 1. Business Driver Input of the Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool.

Determine your current state across the related architecture tiers

2.1.2 1 hour

INPUT: Current data architecture capabilities.

OUTPUT: An idea of where you currently stand in the capabilities.

Materials: Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool

Participants: Data architect, Enterprise architect, Business representatives

Use the Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool to evaluate the baseline and target capabilities of your practice in terms of how data architecture is approached and executed.

Info-Tech Insight

Focus on Early Alignment. Assessing capabilities within specific people’s job functions can naturally result in disagreement or debate, especially between business and IT people. Objectively facilitate any debate and only finalize capability assessments when there is full alignment. Remind everyone that data architecture should ultimately serve business needs wherever possible.

Phase 2, Step 2: Set a Target for Data Architecture Capabilities

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Determine your target state in each of the relevant capabilities.
• Distinguish between essential and nice-to-have capabilities for your organization.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect

Outcomes of this step

• A holistic understanding of where the organization’s data architecture currently sits, where it needs to go, and where the biggest gaps lie.

To create a plan for your data architecture priorities, you must also understand where you need to get to in the future

Keep the goal in mind by documenting target state objectives. This will help to measure the highest priority gaps in the organization’s data architecture capabilities.

Example driver = Becoming more data driven				Current Capabilities		Target Capabilities
			Gaps and Priorities

Determine your future state across the relevant tiers of the data architecture capability model

INPUT: Current state of data architecture capabilities.

OUTPUT: Target state of data architecture capabilities.

Materials: Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool

Participants: Data architect

The future of data architecture is now.

Determine the state of data architecture capabilities that the organization needs to reach to address the drivers of the business.

For example: If you identified your business driver as “becoming more data driven”, you will want to focus on the capabilities within Tiers 3, 4, and 5 of the capability model.

Driver = Becoming more data driven

Target Capabilities

Identify where gaps in your data architecture capabilities lie

2.2.2 1 hour

INPUT: Current and target states of data architecture capabilities.

OUTPUT: Holistic understanding of where you need to improve data architecture capabilities.

Materials: Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool

Participants: Data architect

Visualization of gap assessment of data quality practice capabilities

To enable deeper analysis on the results of your capability assessment, Tab 4. Capability Gap Analysis in the Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool creates visualizations of the gaps identified in each of your practice capabilities and related data management practices. These diagrams serve as analysis summaries.

Gap Assessment of Data Source Capabilities

Use Tab 3. Data Quality Practice Scorecard to enhance your data quality project.

1. Enhance your gap analyses by forming a relative comparison of total gaps in key practice capability areas, which will help in determining priorities.
2. Put these up on display to improve discussion in the gap analyses and prioritization sessions.
3. Improve the clarity and flow of your strategy template, final presentations, and summary documents by copying and pasting the gap assessment diagrams.

Phase 2, Step 3: Identify the Tactics That Apply to Your Organization

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Before making your personal tactic plan, identify the trends in data architecture that can benefit your organization.
• Understand Info-Tech’s data architecture capability model.
• Initiate the Data Architecture Roadmap Tool to begin creating a roadmap for your optimization plan.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect

Outcomes of this step

• A framework for generating a tactical plan for data architecture optimization.
• Knowledge of the various trends in the data architecture field that can be incorporated into your plan.

Capitalize on trends in data architecture before you determine the tactics that apply to you

Stop here. Before you begin to plan for optimization of the organization’s data environment, get a sense of the sustainability and scalability of the direction of the organization’s data architecture evolution.

Practically any trend in data architecture is driven by an attempt to solve one or more the common challenges of today’s tumultuous data landscape, otherwise known as “big data.” Data is being produced in outrageous amounts, at very high speeds, and in a growing number of types and structures.

To meet these demands, which are not slowing down, you must keep ahead of the curve. Consider the internal and external catalysts that might fuel your organization’s need to modernize its data architecture:

Read the Data Architecture Trends Presentation to understand the current cutting edge topics in data architecture

The speed at which new technology is changing is making it difficult for IT professionals to keep pace with best practices, let alone cutting edge technologies.

The Info-Tech Data Architecture Trends Presentation provides a glance at some of the more significant innovations in technology that are driving today’s advanced data architectures. This presentation also explains how these trends relate to either the data challenges you may be facing, or the specific business drivers you are hoping to bring to your organization.

Data Architecture Trends Presentation

Gaps between your current and future capabilities will help you to determine the tactics that apply to you

Now that you know where the organization currently stands, follow these steps to begin prioritizing the initiatives:

1. What are you trying to accomplish? Determine target states that are framed in quantifiable objectives that can be clearly communicated. The more specific the objectives are the better.
2. Evaluate the “delta,” or difference between where the organization currently stands and where it needs to go. This will be expressed in terms of gap closure strategies, and will help clarify the initiatives that will populate the road map.
3. Determine the relative business value of each initiative, as well as the relative complexities of successfully implementing them. These scores should be created with stakeholder input, and then plotted in an effort/transition quadrant map to determine where the quickest and most valuable wins lie.

Info-Tech Insight

Optimizing data architecture requires a tactical approach, not a passive approach. The demanding task of optimization requires the ability to heavily prioritize. After you have identified why, determine how using our pre-built roadmap to address the four common drivers.

Each of the layers of an organization’s data architecture have associated challenges to optimization

Stop! Before you begin, recognize these “gotchas” that can present roadblocks to creating an effective data architecture environment.

Before diving headfirst into creating your tactical data architecture plan, documenting the challenges associated with each aspect of the organization’s data architecture can help to identify where you need to focus your energy in optimizing each tier. The following table presents the common challenges across the five tiers:

Create metrics before you plan to optimize your data architecture

2.2.3 1 hour

INPUT: Tactics that will be used to optimize data architecture.

OUTPUT: Metrics that can be used to measure optimization success.

Materials: Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool

Participants: Data architect

Metrics will help you to track your optimization efforts and ensure that they are providing value to the organization.

There are two types of metrics that are useful for data architects to track and measure: program metrics and project metrics. Program metrics represent the activities that the data architecture program, which is the sum of multiple projects, should help to improve. Project metrics are the more granular metrics that track each project.

Use Tab 6. Metrics of the Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap Tool to document and track metrics associated with your optimization tactics.

Use Info-Tech’s resources to build your data architecture capabilities

The following resources from Info-Tech can be used to improve the capabilities that were identified as having a gap. Read more about the details of the five-tier architecture in the blueprints below:

With the optimal tactics identified, the monetary authority uncovered areas needing improvement

CASE STUDY

Industry: Financial Source: Info-Tech Consulting

Part 2

After establishing the appropriate tactics based on its business driver, the monetary authority was able to identify its shortcomings and adopt resolutions to remedy the issues.

Establishing these solutions provided the organization with necessary information to build their roadmap and move towards implementing an optimized data architecture.

If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop

Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team. Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop. Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

2.1.1 – 2.2.2		Evaluate your current capabilities and design your target data quality practice from two angles In this assessment and planning activity, the team will evaluate the current and target capabilities for your data architecture’s ability to meet business needs based on the essential capabilities across the five tiers of an organization’s architectural environment.
2.2.3		Create metrics to track the success of your optimization plan. The Info-Tech facilitator will guide you through the process of creating program and project metrics to track as you optimize your data architecture. This will help to ensure that the tactics are helping to improve crucial business attributes.

Build a Business-Aligned Data Architecture Optimization Strategy

PHASE 3

Create Your Tactical Data Architecture Roadmap

Phase 3 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Guided Implementation 3: Create Your Tactical Data Architecture Roadmap

Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks

Phase 3, Step 1: Personalize Your Data Architecture Roadmap

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Determine the timing, effort, and ownership of the recommended optimization initiatives.
• Brainstorm initiatives that are not yet on the roadmap but apply to you.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect
• DBAs
• Enterprise Architect

Outcomes of this step

• A roadmap of specific initiatives that map to the tactical plan for optimizing your organization’s data architecture.
• A plan for communicating high-level business objectives to data workers to address the issues of the business.

Now that you have tactical priorities, identify the actionable steps that will lead you to an optimized data architecture

Phase 1 and 2 helped you to identify tactics that address some of the most common business drivers. Phase 3 will bring you through the process of practically planning what those tactics look like in your organization’s environment and create a roadmap to plan how you will generate business value through optimization of your data architecture environment.

Use the Data Architecture Tactic Roadmap Tool to personalize your roadmap

Generating Your Roadmap On Tab 5. Tactic and Initiative Planning, you will find a list of tactics that correspond to every capability that applies to your chosen driver and where there is a gap. In addition, each tactic has a sequence of “Suggested Initiatives,” which represent the best-practice steps that you should take to optimize your data architecture according to your priorities and gaps. Customize this list of initiatives according to your needs. The Gantt chart is generated in Tab 7. Initiative Roadmap, and can be used to organize your plan and ensure that all of the essential aspects of optimizing data architecture are addressed. The roadmap can be used as an “executive brief” roadmap and as a communication tool for the business.

Tab 5. Tactic and Initiative Planning Tab 7. Initiative Roadmap

Determine the details of your data architecture optimization activities

3.1.2 1 hour

INPUT: Timing of initiatives for optimizing data architecture.

OUTPUT: Optimization roadmap

Materials: Data Architecture Tactic Roadmap Tool

Participants: Data architect, Enterprise Architect

Instructions

1. With the list of suggested activities in place on Tab 5. Tactic and Initiative Planning, select whether or not the initiatives will be included in the roadmap. By default, all of the initiatives are set to “Yes.”
2. Plan the sequence, starting time, and length of each initiative, as well as the assigned responsibility of the initiative in Tab 5. Tactic and Initiative Planning of the Data Architecture Tactic Roadmap Tool.
3. The tool will a generate a Gantt chart based on the start and length of your initiatives.
4. The Gantt chart is generated in Tab 7. Initiative Roadmap.

Tab 5. Tactic and Initiative Planning

Tab 7. Initiative Roadmap

Info-Tech Insight

The activities that populate the roadmap can be taken as best practice activities. If you want an actionable, comprehensive, and prescriptive plan for optimizing your data architecture, fill in the timing of the activities and print the roadmap. This can serve as a rapid communication tool for your data architecture plan to the business and other architects.

Optimizing data architecture relies on communication between the business and data workers

Remember: Data architects bridge the gap between strategic and technical requirements of data. Therefore, as you plan the data and its interactions with applications, it is imperative that you communicate the plan and its implications to the business and the data workers.

Also remember: In Phase 1, you built your tactical data architecture optimization plan. Use this document to communicate your plan for data architecture optimization to both the business and the data workers. Socialize this document as a representation of your organization’s current data architecture as well as where it is headed in the future.

Communicate your data architecture optimization plan to the business for approval

INPUT: Data Architecture Tactical Roadmap

OUTPUT: Communication plan

Materials: Data Architecture Optimization Template

Participants: Data Architect, Business representatives, IT representatives

Instructions Begin by presenting your plan and roadmap to the business units who participated in business interviews in activity 1.1.3 of Phase 1. If you receive feedback that suggests that you should make revisions to the plan, consult Info-Tech Research Group for suggestions on how to improve the plan. If you gain approval for the plan, communicate it to DBAs and other data workers.

Iterative optimization and communication plan:

With a roadmap in place, the monetary authority followed a tactical and practical plan to repair outdated data architecture

CASE STUDY

Industry: Financial Source: Info-Tech Consulting

Part 3

After establishing the appropriate tactics based on its business driver, the monetary authority was able to identify its shortcomings and adopt resolutions to remedy the issues.

Phase 3, Step 2: Manage Your Data Architecture Decisions and the Resulting Changes

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• With a plan in place, document the major architectural decisions that have been and will be made to optimize data architecture.
• Create a plan for change and release management, an essential function of the data architect role.

This step involves the following participants:

• Data Architect
• Enterprise Architect

Outcomes of this step

• Resources for documenting and managing the inevitable change associated with updates to the organization’s data architecture environment.

To implement data architecture changes, you must plan to accommodate the issues that come with change

Once you have a plan in place, one the most challenging aspects of improving an organization is yet to come…overcoming change!

“When managing change, the job of the data architect is to avoid unnecessary change and to encapsulate necessary change.

You must provide motivation for simplifying change, making it manageable for the whole organization.” (Andrew Johnston, Independent Consultant)

Create roadmap Communicate roadmap Implement roadmap Change management

Use the Data Architecture Decision Template when architectural changes are made

Document the architectural decisions made to provide context around changes made to the organization’s data environment. The goal of this Data Architecture Decision Template is to provide data architects with a template for managing the changes that accompany major architectural decisions. As you work through the Build a Business-Aligned Data Architecture Optimization Strategy blueprint, you will create a plan for tactical initiatives that address the drivers of the business to optimize your data architecture. This plan will bring about changes to the organization’s data architecture that need change management considerations. Document any major changes to the organization’s data architecture that are required to evolve with the organization’s drivers. This will ensure that major architectural changes are documented, tracked, and that the context around the decision is maintained. “Environment is very chaotic nowadays – legacy apps, sprawl, ERPs, a huge mix and orgs are grappling with what our data landscape look like? Where are our data assets that we need to use?” (Andrew Johnston, Independent Consultant)

Use Info-Tech’s Data Architecture Decision Template to document any major changes in the organization’s data architecture.

Leverage Info-Tech’s resources to smooth change management

As changes to the architectural environment occur, data architects must stay ahead of the curve and plan the change management considerations that come with major architectural decisions.

“When managing change, the job of the data architect is to avoid unnecessary change and to encapsulate necessary change.

You must provide motivation for simplifying change, making it manageable for the whole organization.” (Andrew Johnston, Independent Consultant)

Change Management Blueprint	Change Management Roadmap Tool

Use Info-Tech’s resources for effective release management

As changes to the architectural environment occur, data architects must stay ahead of the curve and plan the release management considerations around new hardware and software releases or updates.

Release management is a process that encompasses the planning, design, build, configuration, and testing of hardware and software releases to create a defined set of release components (ITIL). Release activities can include the distribution of the release and supporting documentation directly to end users. See Info-Tech’s resources on Release Management to smooth changes:

Release Management Blueprint	Release Management Process Standard Template

If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop

Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team. Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop. Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

3.1.1		Create your personalized roadmap of activities. In this activity, the facilitator will guide the team in evaluating practice gaps highlighted by the assessment, and compare these gaps at face value so general priorities can be documented. The same categories as in 3.1.1 are considered.
3.1.3		Communicate your data architecture optimization plan. The facilitator will help you to identify the optimal medium and timing for communicating your plan for optimizing your data architecture.

Insight breakdown

Insight 1

• Data architecture needs to evolve along with the changing business landscape. There are four common business drivers that put most pressure on archaic architectures. As a result, the organization’s architecture must be flexible and responsive to changing business needs.

Insight 2

• Data architecture is not just about models.
  Viewing data architecture as just technical data modeling can lead to structurally unsound data that does not serve the business.

Insight 3

• Data is used differently across the layers of an organization’s data architecture, and the capabilities needed to optimize use of data change with it. Architecting and managing data from source to warehousing to presentation requires different tactics for optimal use.

Summary of accomplishment

Knowledge Gained

• An understanding of what data architecture is, how data architects can provide value to the organization, and how data architecture fits into the larger enterprise architecture picture.
• The capabilities required for optimization of the organization’s data architecture across the five tiers of the logical data architecture model.

Processes Optimized

• Prioritization and planning of data architect responsibilities across the five tiers of the five-tier logical data architecture model.
• Roadmapping of tactics that address the most common business drivers of the organization.
• Architectural change management.

Deliverables Completed

• Data Architecture Driver Pattern Identification Tool
• Data Architecture Optimization Template
• Data Architecture Trends Presentation
• Data Architecture Roadmap Tool
• Data Architecture Decision Template

Research contributors and experts

Ron Huizenga, Senior Product Manager Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. Ron Huizenga has over 30 years of experience as an IT executive and consultant in enterprise data architecture, governance, business process reengineering and improvement, program/project management, software development, and business management. His experience spans multiple industries including manufacturing, supply chain, pipelines, natural resources, retail, healthcare, insurance, and transportation.

Andrew Johnston, Architect Independent Consultant An independent consultant with a unique combination of managerial, commercial, and technical skills, Andrew specializes in the development of strategies and technical architectures that allow businesses to get the maximum benefit from their IT resources. He has been described by clients as a "broad spectrum" architect, summarizing his ability to engage in many problems at many levels.

Research contributors

Internal Contributors
	Steven J. Wilson, Senior Director, Research & Advisory Services Daniel Ko, Research Manager Bernie Gilles, Senior Director, Research & Advisory Services
External Contributors
	Ron Huizenga, Embercardo Technologies Andrew Johnston, Independent Consultant Darrell Enslinger, Government Employees Health Association Anonymous Contributors

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Select a Marketing Management Suite

A best-fit solution balances needs, cost, and capability.

Table of contents

1. Project Rationale
2. Execute the Project/DIY Guide
   • 2.1. Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements
   • 2.2. Shortlist Marketing Management Suites
   • 2.3. Select Vendor and Communicate Decision to Stakeholders
3. Appendices

ANALYST PERSPECTIVE

Navigate the complexity of a vast ecosystem by taking a structured approach to marketing management suite (MMS) selection.

“Marketing applications are in high demand, but it is difficult to select a suite that is right for your organization. Market offerings have grown from 50 vendors to over 800 in the past five years. Much of the process of identifying an appropriate vendor is not about the vendor at all, but rather about having a comprehensive understanding of internal needs. There are instances where a smaller-point solution is necessary to satisfy requirements and a full marketing management suite is an overinvestment.

Likewise, a partner with differentiating features such as AI-driven workflows and a mobile software development kit can act as a powerful extension of an overall customer experience management strategy. It is crucial to make the right decision; missing the mark on an MMS selection will have a direct impact on the business’ bottom line.”

Ben Dickie
Research Director, Enterprise Applications
Info-Tech Research Group

Phase milestones

Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements — Phase 1

• Understand the MMS market space.
• Assess organizational and project readiness for MMS selection.
• Structure your MMS selection and implementation project by refining your MMS roadmap.
• Align organizational use-case fit with market use cases.
• Collect, prioritize, and document MMS requirements.

Shortlist MMS Tool — Phase 2

• Review MMS market leaders and players within your aligned use case.
• Review MMS vendor profiles and capabilities.
• Shortlist MMS vendors based on organizational fit.

Select an MMS — Phase 3

• Submit request for proposal (RFP) to shortlisted vendors.
• Evaluate vendor responses and develop vendor demonstration scripts.
• Score vendor demonstrations and select the final product.

Stop! Are you ready for this project?

Executive summary

Situation

The MMS market is a landscape of vendors offering campaign management, multichannel support, analytics, and publishing tools. Many vendors specialize in some of these areas but not all. Sometimes multiple products are necessary – but determining which feature sets the organization truly needs can be a challenging task. The right technology stack is critical in order to bring automation to marketing initiatives.

Complication

• The first challenge is deciding whether to implement a full marketing suite or a point solution.
• The number of marketing suites and point solutions has increased from 50 to more than 800 just in the past five years.
• IT is receiving a growing number of marketing analytics requests and must be prepared to speak intelligently about marketing management vendor selection.

Resolution

• Leverage Info-Tech’s comprehensive three-phase approach to MMS selection projects: assess your organization’s preparedness to go into the selection stage, move through technology selection, and present decisions to stakeholders.
• Conduct an MMS project preparedness assessment to ensure you maximize the value of your time, effort, and spend.
• Determine whether your organization’s needs will best be met by a marketing management suite or a point solution.
• Determine which use case your organization fits into and review the relevant vendor landscape, common capability, and areas of product differentiation. Consult Info-Tech’s market analysis to shortlist vendors for your RFP process.
• Take advantage of traceable and auditable selection tools to run an effective evaluation and selection process. Be prepared to answer the retroactive question “Why this MMS?” with documentation of your selection process and outputs.

Info-Tech Insight

1. The new MMS market. Selecting a marketing management solution has become increasingly difficult, with the number of players in the marketplace ballooning to meet buyer demand.
2. Direct translation to revenue. Picking the wrong marketing solution has a direct impact on the bottom line. However, the right MMS can lead to a 7.3x greater year-over-year increase in annual revenue.
3. Don’t buy best-of-breed; buy best-for-you. Base your vendor selection on your requirements and use case, not on the vendor’s overall performance.

MMS is a key piece of the CRM puzzle

In order to optimize cross-sell opportunities and marketing effectiveness, there needs to be a master customer database, which belongs in the customer relationship management (CRM) suite.

“When it comes to marketing automation capabilities, using CRM is like building a car from a kit. All the parts are there, but you need the time and skill to put it all together. Using marketing automation is like buying the car you want or need, with all the features you want already installed and some gas in the tank, ready to drive. In either case, you still need to know how to drive and where you want to go.” (Mac McIntosh, Marketo Inc.)

A master database – the central place where all up-to-the-minute data on a customer profile is stored – is essential for MMS success. This is particularly true for real-time capability effectiveness and to minimize customer fatigue.

Understand what an MMS can do for you

Take time to learn the capabilities of modern marketing applications. Understanding the “art of the possible” will help you to get the most out of your MMS.

Review Info-Tech’s vendor profiles of the MMS market to identify vendors that meet your requirements

Use Info-Tech’s MMS implementation methodology as a starting point for your organization’s MMS selection

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

Professional services provider engages Info-Tech to guide it through its MMS selection journey

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Select a Marketing Management Suite – project overview

	1. Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements	2. Shortlist Marketing Management Suites	3. Select Vendor and Communicate Decision to Stakeholders
Best-Practice Toolkit	1.1 Assess the value and identify your organization’s fit for MMS technology. 1.2 Build your procurement team and project customer experience management (CXM) strategy. 1.3 Identify your MMS requirements.	2.1 Produce your shortlist	3.1 Select your MMS 3.2 Present selection
Guided Implementations	Understand CXM strategy and identify your fit for MMS technology. Identify staffing needs. Plan requirements gathering steps.	Discuss use-case fit assessment results. Discuss vendor landscape.	Create a procurement strategy. Discuss executive presentation. Conduct a proposal review.
Onsite Workshop	Module 1: Launch Your MMS Selection Project	Module 2: Analyze MMS Requirements and Shortlist Vendors	Module 3: Plan Your Procurement Process
	Phase 1 Outcome: Launch of MMS selection project	Phase 2 Outcome: Shortlist of vendors	Phase 3 Outcome: Selection of MMS

Use these icons to help direct you as you navigate this research

Use these icons to help guide you through each step of the blueprint and direct you to content related to the recommended activities.

	This icon denotes a slide where a supporting Info-Tech tool or template will help you perform the activity or step associated with the slide. Refer to the supporting tool or template to get the best results and proceed to the next step of the project.
	This icon denotes a slide with an associated activity. The activity can be performed either as part of your project or with the support of Info-Tech team members who will come onsite to facilitate a workshop for your organization.
	This icon denotes a slide that pertains directly to the Info-Tech vendor profiles on marketing management technology. Use these slides to support and guide your evaluation of the MMS vendors included in the research.

Select a Marketing Management Suite

PHASE 1

Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements

Phase 1 outline

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Guided Implementation 1: Launch Your MMS Project and Collect Requirements

Proposed Time to Completion: 3 weeks

Phase 1 milestones

Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements — Phase 1

• Understand the MMS market space.
• Assess organizational and project readiness for MMS selection.
• Structure your MMS selection and implementation project by refining your MMS roadmap.
• Align organizational use-case fit with market use cases.
• Collect, prioritize, and document MMS requirements.

Shortlist MMS Tool — Phase 2

• Review MMS market leaders and players within your aligned use case.
• Review MMS vendor profiles and capabilities.
• Shortlist MMS vendors based on organizational fit.

Select an MMS — Phase 3

• Submit request for proposal (RFP) to shortlisted vendors.
• Evaluate vendor responses and develop vendor demonstration scripts.
• Score vendor demonstrations and select the final product.

Step 1.1: Understand the MMS market

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• MMS market overview

This step involves the following participants:

• Project team
• Project manager
• Project sponsor

Outcomes of this step

• An understanding of the evolution of the MMS market space and how it helps today’s organizations.
• An evaluation of new and upcoming trends sought by MMS clients.
• Verification of whether an MMS is a fit with your organization.

Speak the same language as the marketing department to deliver the most business value

Marketing Management Suite Glossary

MMS is a key piece of the customer experience ecosystem

A master database – the central place where all up-to-the-minute data on a customer profile is stored – is essential for MMS success. This is particularly true for real-time capability effectiveness and to minimize customer fatigue. If you have customer records in multiple places, you risk missing customer opportunities and potentially upsetting clients. For example, if a client has communicated preferences or disinterest through one channel, and this is not effectively recorded throughout the organization, another representative is likely to contact them in the same method again – possibly alienating the customer for good. A master database requires automatic synchronization with all point solutions, POS, billing systems, agencies, etc. If you don’t have up-to-the-minute information, you can’t score prospects effectively and you lose out on the benefits of the MMS.

Understanding the “art of the possible”

Expect the marketing department to drive suite adoption, but don’t count out the benefits MMS will also provide to IT

MMS adoption is driven by the need for better campaign execution and marketing intelligence. MMS technologies are adopted to create faster, easier, more intelligent, and more measurable campaigns and make managing complex channels easy and repeatable.

(Source: Info-Tech Research Group; N=23)

The key drivers for MMS are business-related, not IT-related. However, this does not mean that there are no benefits to IT. In fact, the IT department will see numerous benefits, including time and resource savings. Further, not having an MMS creates more work for your IT department. IT must serve as a valued partner for selection and implementation.

Additional benefits to IT driven by MMS

Marketing management suites are ideal for large organizations with multiple product lines in complex marketing environments. IT is often more centralized than its counterparts in the business, making it uniquely positioned to encourage greater coordination by helping the business units understand the shared goals and the benefits of working together to roll out suites for marketing workflow management, intelligence, and channel management.

Info-Tech Insight

Don’t forget that MMS technologies deliver on the overarching suite value proposition: a robust solution within one integrated offering. Without an MMS in play, organizations in need of this functionality are forced to piece together point solutions (or ad hoc management). This not only increases costs but also is an integration nightmare for IT.

Step 1.2: Structure the project

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Determine if you are ready to kick off the MMS selection project.
• Align project goals with CXM strategy and business goals.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team
• Project manager
• Project sponsor

Outcomes of this step

• Assurance that you have completed adequate preparation, obtained stakeholder and sponsor buy-in, secured sufficient resources, and completed strategy and planning activities to move forward with selection.
• An approach to remedy organizational readiness to prepare for MMS selection.
• An understanding of stakeholder goals.

Identify the scope and purpose of your MMS selection process

Info-Tech Insights

Creating repeatable and streamlined marketing processes is a common overarching business objective that is driven by multiple factors. To ensure this objective is achieved, confirm that the primary drivers are following the implementation of the first automated marketing channels.

Activity: Understand your business’ goals for MMS by parsing your formal CXM strategy

INPUT: Stakeholder user stories

OUTPUT: Understanding of ideal outcomes from MMS implementation

MATERIALS: Whiteboard and marker or sticky notes

PARTICIPANTS: Project sponsor, Project stakeholders, Business analysts, Business unit reps

Instructions

1. Outline the purpose of the future MMS tool and the drivers behind this business decision with the project’s key stakeholders.
2. Document plans to ensure that these drivers are taken into consideration and realized following implementation. Example:

   Improve	Reduce/Eliminate	KPIs
   Multichannel marketing	Duplication of effort	Number of customer interaction channels supported
   Social integration	Process inefficiencies	Number of social signals received (likes, shares, etc.)
   …	…	…

If you do not have a well-defined CXM strategy, leverage Info-Tech’s research to Build a Strong Technology Foundation for Customer Experience Management.

Understanding marketing suites

This blueprint focuses on complete, integrated marketing management suites An integrated suite is a single product that is designed to assist with multiple marketing processes. Information from these suites is deeply connected to the core CRM. Changing a piece of information for one process will update all affected.

Understanding marketing point solutions

Determine if MMS is right for your organization

Info-Tech Insight

Using an MMS is ideal for organizations with multiple brands and product portfolios (e.g. consumer packaged goods). Ad hoc management and email marketing services are best for small organizations with a client base that requires only bare bones engagement.

Determine if you are ready to kick off your MMS selection and implementation project

Use Info-Tech’s MMS Readiness Assessment Checklist to determine if your organization has sufficient process and campaign maturity to warrant the investment in a consolidated marketing management suite. Sections of the Tool: Goals & Objectives Project Team Current State Understanding Future State Vision Business Process Improvement Project Metrics Executive Sponsorship Stakeholder Buy-In & Change Management Risk Management Cost & Budget

INFO-TECH DELIVERABLE Complete the MMS Readiness Assessment Checklist by following the instructions in Activity 1.2.3.

Activity: Determine if you are ready to kick off your MMS selection project

1.2.3 30 minutes

INPUT: MMS foundation, MMS strategy

OUTPUT: Readiness remediation approach, Validation of MMS project readiness

MATERIALS: Info-Tech’s MMS Readiness Assessment Checklist

PARTICIPANTS: Project sponsor, Core project team

Instructions

1. Download the MMS Readiness Assessment Checklist.
2. Review Section 1 of the checklist with the core project team and/or project sponsor, item by item. For completed items, tick the relative checkbox.
3. Once the whole checklist has been reviewed, document all incomplete items in the table under Section 1 in the first table column (“Incomplete Readiness Item”).
4. For each incomplete item, use your discretion to determine whether its completion is critical in preparation for MMS selection and implementation. This may vary given the complexity of your MMS project. If the item is critical to the project, indicate this with “Y” in the second column (“Criticality (Y/N)”).
5. For each critical item, reflect on the barriers that have prevented or are preventing its completion. Possible barriers include incomplete task dependencies, low value-to-effort determination, lack of organizational knowledge or resources, pressure of deadlines, etc. Document these barriers in the third column (“Barriers to Completion”).
6. Based on the barriers determined in Step 5, determine a remediation approach for each item. Document the approach in the fourth column (“Remediation Approach”).
7. For each remediation activity, designate a due date and remediation owner. Document this in the fifth column (“Due Date & Owner”).
8. Carry out the remediation of critical tasks and return to this blueprint to kickstart your selection and implementation project.

Step 1.3: Gather MMS requirements

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Understand your MMS use case.
• Elicit and capture your MMS requirements.
• Prioritize your solution requirements.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team
• Project manager
• Business analysts
• Procurement subject-matter experts (SMEs)

Outcomes of this step

• Project alignment with MMS market use case.
• Inventory of categorized and prioritized MMS business requirements.

Understand the dominant use-case scenarios for MMS across organizations

Activity: Understand which type of MMS you need

1.3.1 30 minutes

INPUT: Use-case breakdown

OUTPUT: Project use-case alignments

Materials: Whiteboard, markers

Participants: Project manager, Core project team (optional)

Instructions

1. Familiarize your team with Info-Tech’s MMS use-case breakdown from the previous slide.
2. Determine which use case is best aligned with your organization’s MMS project objectives. If you need assistance with this, consider the relevance of the cases studies and statements on the following slides.
3. If your team agrees with most or all statements under a given use case, this indicates strong alignment towards that use case. It is possible for an organization to align with more than one use case. Your use-case alignment will guide you in creating a vendor shortlist later in this project.

Use Info-Tech’s vendor research and use-case scenarios to support your organization’s vendor analysis

The use-case view of vendor and product performance provides multiple opportunities for vendors to fit into your application architecture depending on their product and market performance. The use cases selected are based on market research and client demand.

Determining your use case is crucial for:

1. Selecting an application that is the right fit
2. Establishing a business case for MMS

The following slides illustrate how the three most common use cases (marketing automation, marketing intelligence, and social marketing) align with business needs. As shown by the case studies, the right MMS can result in great benefits to your organization.

Use-case alignment and business need

Marketing Automation

Marketing Need	Manage customer experience across multiple channels	Manage multiple campaigns simultaneously	Integrate web-enabled devices (IoT) into marketing campaigns	Run and track email marketing campaigns

The Portland Trail Blazers utilize an MMS to amplify their message with marketing automation technology

Use-case alignment and business need

Marketing Intelligence

Marketing Need	Capture marketing- and customer-related data from multiple sources	Analyze large quantities of marketing data	Visualize marketing-related data in a manner that is easy for decision makers to consume	Perform trend and predictive analysis

Chico’s FAS uses marketing intelligence to drive customer loyalty

Use-case alignment and business need

Social Marketing

Marketing Need	Understand customers' likes and dislikes	Manage and analyze social media channels like Facebook and Twitter	Foster a conversation around specific products	Engage international audiences through regional messaging apps

Bayer leverages MMS technology to cultivate a social presence

Leverage Info-Tech’s requirements gathering framework to serve as the basis for capturing your MMS requirements

REQUIREMENTS GATHERING Info-Tech’s requirements gathering framework is a comprehensive approach to requirements management that can be scaled to any size of project or organization. This framework ensures that the application created will capture the needs of all stakeholders and deliver business value. Develop and right-size a proven standard operating procedure for requirements gathering with Info-Tech’s blueprint Build a Strong Approach to Business Requirements Gathering.

Activity: Elicit and capture your MMS requirements

1.3.2 Varies

INPUT: MMS tool user expertise, MMS Requirements Picklist Tool

OUTPUT: A list of needs from the MMS tool user perspective

Materials: Note-taking materials, Whiteboard or flip chart, markers

Participants: MMS users in the organization, MMS selection committee

Instructions

1. Identify stakeholders for the requirements gathering exercise. Consider holding one-on-one sessions or large focus groups with key stakeholders or the project sponsor to gather business requirements for an MMS.
2. Use the MMS Requirements Picklist Tool as a starting point for conducting the requirements elicitation session(s).
3. Begin by reading the instructions in the template and then move to the “Requirements” worksheet. Read each defined requirement in the worksheet and indicate in the “Requirement Status” column whether the requirement is a “Must,” “High,” or “Low.” Confirming the status is an important part of the exercise. The status will help filter vendors for final selection later on in the process.
4. Decide whether additional requirements are necessary by asking the MMS tool users. If so, add the requirements to the bottom of the “Requirements” worksheet and indicate their “Requirement Status.”

Download the MMS Requirements Picklist Tool to help with completing this activity.

Show the measurable benefits of MMS with metrics

The return on investment (ROI) and perceived value of the organization’s marketing solution will be a critical indication of the likelihood of success of the suite’s selection and implementation.

Info-Tech Insight

Even if marketing metrics are difficult to track right now, the implementation of an MMS brings access to valuable customer intelligence from data that was once kept in silos.

If you want additional support, have our analysts guide you through this phase as part of an Info-Tech Workshop

Book a workshop with our Info-Tech analysts:

To accelerate this project, engage your IT team in an Info-Tech workshop with an Info-Tech analyst team. Info-Tech analyst will join you and your team onsite at your location or welcome you to Info-Tech's historic Toronto office to participate in an innovative onsite workshop. Contact your account manager (www.infotech.com/account), or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

The following are sample activities that will be conducted by Info-Tech analysts with your team:

1.2.1		Align the CXM strategy value proposition to MMS capabilities Our facilitator will help your team identify the IT CXM strategy and marketing goals. The analyst will then work with the team to map the strategy to technological drivers available in the MMS market.
1.3.2		Define the needs of MMS users Our facilitator will work with your team to identify user requirements for the MMS Requirements Picklist Tool. The analyst will facilitate a discussion with your team to prioritize identified requirements.

Select a Marketing Management Suite

PHASE 2

Shortlist Marketing Management Suites

Phase 2 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Guided Implementation 2: Shortlist Marketing Management Suites

Proposed Time to Completion: 1-3 months

Phase 2 milestones

Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements — Phase 1

• Understand the MMS market space.
• Assess organizational and project readiness for MMS selection.
• Structure your MMS selection and implementation project by refining your MMS roadmap.
• Align organizational use-case fit with market use cases.
• Collect, prioritize, and document MMS requirements.

Shortlist MMS Tool — Phase 2

• Review MMS market leaders and players within your aligned use case.
• Review MMS vendor profiles and capabilities.
• Shortlist MMS vendors based on organizational fit.

Select an MMS — Phase 3

• Submit request for proposal (RFP) to shortlisted vendors.
• Evaluate vendor responses and develop vendor demonstration scripts.
• Score vendor demonstrations and select the final product.

Step 2.1: Analyze and shortlist MMS vendors

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Review MMS vendor landscape.
• Take note of relevant point solutions.
• Shortlist vendors for the RFP process.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team

Outcomes of this step

• Understanding of Info-Tech’s use-case scenarios for MMS: marketing automation, marketing intelligence, and social marketing.
• Familiarity with the MMS vendor landscape.
• Shortlist of MMS vendors for RFP process.

Familiarize yourself with the MMS market: How it got here

Info-Tech Insight

As the market evolves, capabilities that were once cutting edge become default and new functionality becomes differentiating. Some features, like basic CRM integration, have become table stakes capabilities. Focus on advanced analytics features and omnichannel integration capabilities to get the best fit for your requirements.

Familiarize yourself with the MMS market: Where it’s going

Review Info-Tech’s vendor profiles of the MMS market to identify vendors that meet your requirements

Vendors & Products Evaluated

Table stakes are the minimum standard; without these, a product doesn’t even get reviewed

Take a holistic approach to vendor and product evaluation

Almost – or equally – as important as evaluating vendor feature capabilities is the need to evaluate vendor viability and non-functional aspects of the MMS. Include an evaluation of the following criteria in your vendor scoring methodology:

Info-Tech Insight

Evaluate vendor capabilities, not just product capabilities. An MMS is typically a long-term commitment; ensure that your organization is teaming up with a vendor or provider that you feel you can work well with and depend on.

Advanced features are the capabilities that allow for granular differentiation of market players and use-case performance

Advanced features are the capabilities that allow for granular differentiation of market players and use-case performance

Use the information in the MMS vendor profiles to streamline your vendor analysis process

Review the use-case scenarios relevant to your organization’s use case to identify a vendor’s fit to your organization’s MMS needs. L = Use-case leader P = Use-case player
Understand your organization’s size and whether it falls within the product’s market focus. Large enterprise: 2,000+ employees and revenue of $250M+ Small-medium enterprise: 30-2,000 employees and revenue of $25M-$250M
Review the differentiating features to identify where the application performs best.
Colors signify a feature’s performance.

Adobe Marketing Cloud

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Creative Cloud Integration: To make for a more seamless cross-product experience, projects can be sent between Marketing Cloud and Creative Cloud apps such as Photoshop and After Effects. Sensei: Adobe has revamped its machine learning and AI platform in an effort to integrate AI into all of its marketing applications. Sensei includes data from Microsoft in a new partnership program. Anomaly Detection: Adobe’s Anomaly Detection contextualizes data and provides a statistical method to determine how a given metric has changed in relation to previous metrics.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing L L P	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium Large Enterprise ✔

Adobe’s goal with Marketing Cloud is to help businesses provide customers with cohesive, seamless experiences by surfacing customer profiles in relevant situations quickly. Adobe Marketing Cloud has traditionally been used in the B2C space but has seen an increase in B2C use cases driven by the finance and technology sectors.

FEATURES

HubSpot

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Content Optimization System (COS): The fully integrated system stores assets and serves them to their designated channels at relevant times. The COS is integrated into HubSpot's marketing platform. Email Automation: HubSpot provides basic email that can be linked to a specific part of an organization’s marketing funnel. These emails can also be added to pre-existing automated workflows. Email Deliverability Tool: HubSpot identifies HTML or content that will be flagged by spam filters. It also validates links and minimizes email load times.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing P P P	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium ✔ Large Enterprise ✔

Hubspot’s primary focus has been on email marketing campaigns. It has put effort into developing solid “click not code” email marketing capabilities. Also, Hubspot has an official integration with Salesforce for expanded operations management and analytics capabilities.

FEATURES

IBM Marketing Cloud

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Watson: IBM is leveraging its popular Watson AI brand to generate marketing insights for automated campaigns. Weather Effects: Set campaign rules based on connections between weather conditions and customer behavior relative to zip code made by Watson. Real-Time Personalization: IBM has made efforts to remove campaign interaction latency and optimize live customer engagement by acting on information about what customers are doing in the current moment.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing L L P	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium ✔ Large Enterprise ✔

IBM has remained ahead of the curve by incorporating its well-known AI technology throughout Marketing Cloud. The application’s integration with the wide array of IBM products makes it a powerful tool for users already in the IBM ecosystem.

FEATURES

Marketo

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Content AI: Marketo has leveraged its investments in machine learning to intelligently fetch marketing assets and serve them to customers based on their interactions with a campaign. Email A/B Testing: To improve lead generation from email campaigns, Marketo features the ability to execute A/B testing for customized campaigns. Partnership with Google: Marketo is now hosted on Google’s cloud platform, enabling it to provide support for larger enterprise clients and improve GDPR compliance.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing P P P	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium ✔ Large Enterprise

Marketo has strong capabilities for lead management but has recently bolstered its analytics capabilities. Marketo is hoping to capture some of the analytics application market share by offering tools with varying complexity and to cater to firms with a wide range of analytics needs.

FEATURES

Oracle Marketing Cloud

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Data Visualization: To make for a more seamless cross-product experience, marketing projects can be sent between Marketing Cloud and Creative Cloud apps such as Dreamweaver. ID Graph: Use ID Graph to unite disparate data sources to form a singular profile of leads, making the personalization and contextualization of campaigns more efficient. Interest-Based Messaging: Pause a campaign to update a segment or content based on aggregated customer activity and interaction data.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing P P P	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium Large Enterprise ✔

Oracle Marketing Cloud is known for its balance between campaigns and analytics products. Oracle has taken the lead on expanding its marketing channel mix to include international options such as WeChat. Users already using Oracle’s CRM/CEM products will derive the most value from Marketing Cloud.

FEATURES

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Einstein: Salesforce is putting effort into integrating AI into all of its applications. The Einstein AI platform provides marketers with predictive analytics and insights into customer behavior. Mobile Studio: Salesforce has a robust mobile marketing offering that encompasses SMS/MMS, in-app engagement, and group messaging platforms. Journey Builder: Salesforce created Journey Builder, which is a workflow automation tool. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to automate responses to customer actions.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing L P L	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium ✔ Large Enterprise ✔

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is primarily used by organizations in the B2C space. It has strong Sales Cloud CRM integration. Pardot is positioning itself as a tool for sales teams in addition to marketers.

FEATURES

Salesforce Pardot

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Engagement Studio: Salesforce is putting marketing capabilities in the hands of sales reps by giving them access to a team email engagement platform. Einstein: Salesforce’s Einstein AI platform helps marketers and sales reps identify the right accounts to target with predictive lead scoring. Program Steps: Salesforce developed a distinct own workflow building tool for Pardot. Workflows are made of “Program Steps” that have the functionality to initiate campaigns based on insights from Einstein.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing P P -	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium ✔ Large Enterprise ✔

Pardot is Salesforce’s B2B marketing solution. Pardot has focused on developing tools that enable sales teams and marketers to work in lockstep in order to achieve lead-generation goals. Pardot has deep integration with Salesforce’s CRM and customer service management products.

FEATURES

SAP Hybris Marketing

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT CMO Dashboard: The specialized dashboard is aimed at providing overviews for the executive level. It includes the ability to coordinate marketing activities and project budgets, KPIs, and timelines. Loyalty Management: SAP features in-app tools to manage campaigns specifically geared toward customer loyalty with digital coupons and iBeacons. Customer Segmentation: SAP’s predictive capabilities dynamically suggest relevant customer profiles for new campaigns.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing P L P	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium Large Enterprise ✔

SAP Hybris Marketing Cloud optimizes marketing strategies in real time with accurate attribution and measurements. SAP’s operations management capabilities are robust, including the ability to view consolidated data streams from ongoing marketing plans, performance targets, and budgets.

FEATURES

SAS Marketing Intelligence

		FUNCTIONAL SPOTLIGHT Activity Map: A user-friendly workflow builder that can be used to execute campaigns. Multiple activities can be simultaneously A/B tested within the Activity Map UI. The outcome of the test can automatically adjust the workflow. Spots: A native digital asset manager that can store property that is part of existing and future campaigns. Viya: A framework for fully integrating third-party data sources into SAS Marketing Intelligence. Viya assists with pairing on-premises databases with a cloud platform for use with the SAS suite.
USE-CASE PERFORMANCE Marketing Automation Marketing Intelligence Social Marketing P L	MARKET FOCUS Small-Medium Large Enterprise ✔

SAS has been a leading BI and analytics provider for more than 35 years. Rooted in statistical analysis of data, SAS products provide forward-looking strategic insights. Organizations that require extensive customer intelligence capabilities and the ability to “slice and dice” segments should have SAS on their shortlist.

FEATURES

Consider alternative MMS vendors not included in Info-Tech’s vendor profiles

1. Our clients must be talking about the solution.
2. Our analysts must believe the solution will play well within the evaluation.
3. The vendor must meet table stakes criteria.

Additional vendors in the MMS market:
See the next slides for suggested point solutions.

Leverage Info-Tech’s WXM and SMMP vendor landscapes to select platforms that fit with your CXM strategy

Web experience management (WXM) and social media management platforms (SMMP) act in concert with your MMS to execute complex campaigns.

Social Media Management Info-Tech’s SMMP selection guide enables you to find a solution that satisfies your objectives across marketing, sales, public relations, HR, and customer service. Create a unified framework for driving successful implementation and adoption of your SMMP that fully addresses CRM and marketing automation integration, end-user adoption, and social analytics with Info-Tech’s blueprint Select and Implement a Social Media Management Platform.

Web Experience Management Info-Tech’s approach to WXM ensures you have the right suite of tools for web content management, experience design, and web analytics. Put your best foot forward by conducting due diligence as the selection project advances. Ensure that your organization will see quick results with Info-Tech’s blueprint Select and Implement a Web Experience Management Solution.

Consider point solutions if a full suite is not required

Email Marketing

Consider point solutions if a full suite is not required

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Consider point solutions if a full suite is not required

Demand-Side Platform (DSP)

Consider point solutions if a full suite is not required

Customer Portal Software

Select a Marketing Management Suite

PHASE 3

Select Vendor and Communicate Decision to Stakeholders

Phase 3 outline

Call 1-888-670-8889 or email GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com for more information.

Complete these steps on your own, or call us to complete a guided implementation. A guided implementation is a series of 2-3 advisory calls that help you execute each phase of a project. They are included in most advisory memberships.

Guided Implementation 3: Plan Your MMS Implementation

Proposed Time to Completion: 2 weeks

Phase 3 milestones

Launch the MMS Project and Collect Requirements — Phase 1

• Understand the MMS market space.
• Assess organizational and project readiness for MMS selection.
• Structure your MMS selection and implementation project by refining your MMS roadmap.
• Align organizational use-case fit with market use cases.
• Collect, prioritize, and document MMS requirements.

Shortlist MMS Tool — Phase 2

• Review MMS market leaders and players within your aligned use case.
• Review MMS vendor profiles and capabilities.
• Shortlist MMS vendors based on organizational fit.

Select an MMS — Phase 3

• Submit request for proposal (RFP) to shortlisted vendors.
• Evaluate vendor responses and develop vendor demonstration scripts.
• Score vendor demonstrations and select the final product.

Step 2.1: Analyze and shortlist MMS vendors

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Build a response template to standardize potential vendor responses and streamline your evaluation process.
• Evaluate the RFPs you receive with a clear scoring process and evaluation framework.
• Build a demo script to evaluate product demonstrations by vendors.
• Select your solution.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team
• Procurement SMEs
• Project sponsor

Outcomes of this step

• Completed MMS RFP vendor response template
• Completed MMS demo script(s)
• Established product and vendor evaluation criteria
• Final MMS selection

Activity: Shortlist vendors for the RFP process

3.1.1 30 minutes

INPUT: Organizational use-case fit

OUTPUT: MMS vendor shortlist

Materials: Info-Tech’s MMS use cases, Info-Tech’s vendor profiles, Whiteboard, markers

Participants: Core project team

Instructions

1. Collectively with the core project team, determine any knock-out criteria for shortlisting MMS vendors. For example, if your team is executing on a strategy that favors mobile deployment, vendors who do not have a mobile offering may be off the table.
2. Based on the results in Activity 1.3.2, write a longlist of vendors. In most cases, this list will consist of all the vendors that fall into your organization’s use-case scenario. If your organization fits into more than one use case (e.g. your organization has both product-centric and service-centric MMS needs), look for the overlap of vendors between the use cases.
3. Review the profiles of the vendors that fall into your use-case scenario. Based on your knock-out criteria established in Step 1, eliminate any vendors as applicable.
4. Finalize and record your shortlist of MMS vendors.

Use Info-Tech’s MMS Request for Proposal Template to document and communicate your requirements to vendors

3.1.2 MMS Request for Proposal Template

Activity: Create an RFP to submit to MMS vendors

3.1.3 1-2 hours

INPUT: Business requirements document, Procurement procedures

OUTPUT: MMS RFP

Materials: Internal RFP tools or templates (if available), Info-Tech’s MMS Request for Proposal Template (optional)

Participants: Procurement SMEs, Project manager, Core project team (optional)

Instructions

1. Download Info-Tech’s MMS Request for Proposal Template or prepare internal best-practice RFP tools.
2. Build your RFP:
   1. Complete the statement of work and general information sections to provide organizational context to your longlisted vendors.
   2. Outline the organization’s procurement instructions for vendors, including due diligence, assessment criteria, and dates.
   3. Input the business requirements document as created in Activity 1.3.2.
   4. Create a scenario overview to provide vendors with an opportunity to give an estimate price.
3. Obtain approval for your RFP. Each organization has a unique procurement process; follow your own organization’s process as you submit your RFPs to vendors. Ensure compliance with your organization’s standards and gain approval for submitting your RFP.

Establish vendor evaluation criteria

Vendor demonstrations are an integral part of the selection process. Having clearly defined selection criteria will help with setting up relevant demos as well as inform the vendor scorecards.

EXAMPLE EVALUATION CRITERIA
Functionality (30%) Breadth of capability Tactical capability Operational capability	Ease of Use (25%) End-user usability Administrative usability UI attractiveness Self-service options
Cost (15%) Maintenance Support Licensing Implementation (internal and external costs)	Vendor (15%) Support model Customer base Sustainability Product roadmap Proof of concept Implementation model
Technology (15%) Configurability options Customization requirements Deployment options Security and authentication Integration environment Ubiquity of access (mobile)	Info-Tech Insight Base your vendor evaluations not on the capabilities of the solutions but instead on how the solutions align with your organization’s process automation requirements and considerations.

Vendor demonstrations

Examine how the vendor’s solution performs against your evaluation framework.

What is the value of a vendor demonstration?

Vendor demonstrations create a valuable opportunity for your organization to confirm that the vendor’s claims in the RFP are actually true.

A display of the vendor’s functional capabilities and its execution of the scenarios given in your demo script will help to support your assessment of whether a vendor aligns with your MMS requirements.

What should be included in a vendor demonstration?

1. Vendor’s display of its solution for the scenarios provided in the demo script.
2. Display of functional capabilities of the tool.
3. Briefing on integration capabilities.

Activity: Invite top performing vendors for product demonstrations

3.1.4 1-2 hours

INPUT: Business requirements document, Logistical considerations, Usage scenarios by functional area

OUTPUT: MMS demo script

Materials: Info-Tech’s MMS Vendor Demo Script

Participants: Procurement SMEs, Core project team

Instructions

1. Have your evaluation team (selected at the onset of the project) present to evaluate each vendor’s presentation. In some cases you may choose to bring in a subject matter expert (SME) to evaluate a specific area of the tool.
2. Outline the logistics of the demonstration in the Introduction section of the template. Be sure to outline the total length of the demo and the amount of time that should be dedicated to the following:
   • Product demonstration in response to the demo script
   • Showcase of unique product elements, not reflective of the demo script
   • Question and answer session
   • Breaks and other potential interruptions
3. Provide prompts for the vendor to display the capabilities by listing and describing usage scenarios by functional area. For example, when asking a vendor to demo financial and accounting management capabilities, you may break scenarios out by task (e.g. general ledger, accounts payable) or user role (e.g. finance manager, administrator).

Info-Tech Insight

Challenge vendor project teams during product demonstrations. Asking the vendor to make adjustments or customizations on the fly will allow you to get an authentic feel of product capability and flexibility, as well as of the degree of adaptability of the vendor project team. Ask the vendor to demonstrate how to do things not listed in your user scenarios, such as change system visualizations or design, change underlying data, add additional datasets, demonstrate analytics capabilities, or channel specific automation.

Use Info-Tech’s MMS Vendor Demo Script template to set expectations for vendor product demonstration

MMS Vendor Demo Script

Leverage Info-Tech’s vendor selection and negotiation models as the basis for a streamlined MMS selection process

Design a procurement process that is robust, ruthless, and reasonable. Rooting out bias during negotiation is vital to making unbiased vendor selections.

Vendor Selection Info-Tech’s approach to vendor selection gets you to design a procurement process that is robust, ruthless, and reasonable. This approach enables you to take control of vendor communications. Implement formal processes with an engaged team to achieve the right price, the right functionality, and the right fit for the organization with Info-Tech's blueprint Implement a Proactive and Consistent Vendor Selection Process.

Vendor Negotiation Info-Tech’s SaaS negotiation strategy focuses on taking control of implementation from the beginning. The strategy allows you to work with your internal stakeholders to make sure they do not team up with the vendor instead of you. Reach an agreement with your vendor that takes into account both parties’ best interests with Info-Tech’s blueprint Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last.

Step 3.2: Communicate decision to stakeholders

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• Collect project rationale documentation.
• Create a presentation to communicate your selection decision to stakeholders.

This step involves the following participants:

• Core project team
• Procurement SMEs
• Project sponsor
• Business stakeholders
• Relevant management

Outcomes of this step

• Completed MMS Selection Executive Presentation Template
• Affirmation of MMS selection by stakeholders

Inform internal stakeholders of the final decision

Ensure traceability from the selected tool to the needs identified in the first phase. Internal stakeholders must understand the reasoning behind the final selection and see the alignment to their defined requirements and needs.

Activity: Prepare a presentation deck to communicate the selection process and decision to internal stakeholders

3.2.1 1 week

INPUT: MMS tool selection committee expertise

OUTPUT: Decision to invest or not invest in an MMS tool

Materials: Note-taking materials, Whiteboard or flip chart, markers

Participants: MMS tool selection committee

Instructions

1. Download Info-Tech’s MMS Selection Executive Presentation Template.
2. Read the instructions on slide 2 of the template. Then, on slide 3, decide if any portion of the selection process should be removed from the communication. Discuss with the team and make adjustments to slide 3 as necessary.
3. Work with the MMS selection committee to populate the slides that remain after the adjustments. Follow the instructions on each slide to help complete the content.
4. Refer to the square brackets on each slide (e.g. [X.X]) to identify the activity numbers in this storyboard that correspond to the slide in the MMS Selection Executive Presentation Template. Use the outputs produced from the corresponding activities in this deck and populate each slide in the MMS Selection Executive Presentation Template.
5. Use the completed template to present to internal stakeholders.

Info-Tech Insight

Documenting the process of how the selection decision was made will avoid major headaches down the road. Without a documented process, internal stakeholders and even vendors can challenge and discredit the selection process.

Vendor participation

Vendors Who Briefed with Info-Tech Research Group

Professionals Who Contributed to Our Evaluation and Research

• Sara Camden, Digital Change Agent, Equifax
• Caren Carrasco, Lifecycle Marketing and Automation, Benjamin David Group
• 10 anonymous contributors participated in the vendor briefings

Works cited

Adobe Systems Incorporated. “Bayer builds understanding, socially.” Adobe.com, 2017. Web.

IBM Corporation, “10 Key Marketing Trends for 2017.” IBM.com, 2017. Web.

Marketo, Inc. “The Definitive Guide to Marketing Automation.” Marketo.com, 2013. Web.

Marketo, Inc. “NBA franchise amplifies its message with help from Marketo’s marketing automation technology.” Marketo.com, 2017. Web.

Salesforce Pardot. “Marketing Automation & Your CRM: The Dynamic Duo.” Pardot.com, 2017. Web.

SAS Institute Inc. “Marketing Analytics: How, why and what’s next.” SAS Magazine, 2013. Web.

SAS Institute Inc. “Give shoppers offers they’ll love.” SAS.com, 2017. Web.

Enable Product Delivery – Executive Leadership Workshop

Strengthen product management in your organization through effective executive leadership by focusing on product teams, core capabilities, and proper alignment.

Objective of this workshop

To develop a common understanding and foundation for product management so we, as leaders, better understand how to lead product owners, product managers, and their teams.

Enable Product Delivery - Executive Leadership Workshop

Learn how enterprise agility can provide lasting value to the organization

Clarify your role in supporting your teams to deliver lasting value to stakeholders and customers

1. Understanding Your Top Challenges
   • Define your challenges, goals, and opportunities Agile and product management will impact.
2. Transitioning from Projects to Product-centric Delivery
   • Understand the shift from fixed delivery to continuous improvement and delivery of value.
3. Enterprise Agility and the Value of Change
   • Organizations need to embrace change and leverage smaller delivery cycles.
4. Defining Your "Products" and Product Management
   • Define products in your culture and how to empower product delivery teams.
5. Connecting Product Management to Agile Practices
   • Use product ownership to drive increased ROI into your product delivery teams and lifecycles.
6. Commit to Empowering Agile Product Teams
   • Define the actions and changes you must make for this transformation to be successful.

Your Product Transformation Journey

1. Make the Case for Product Delivery
   • Align your organization with the practices to deliver what matters most
2. Enable Product Delivery – Executive Workshop
   • One-day executive workshop – align and prepare your leadership
   • Audience: Senior executives and IT leadership.
     Size: 8-16 people
     Time: 6 hours
3. Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision
   • Enhance product backlogs, roadmapping, and strategic alignment
   • Audience: Product Owners/Mangers
     Size: 10-20 people
     Time: 3-4 days
4. Deliver Your Digital Products at Scale
   • Scale Product Families to Align Enterprise Goals
   • Audience: Product Owners/Mangers
     Size: 10-20 people
     Time: 3-4 days
5. Mature and Scale Product Ownership
   • Align and mature your product owners
   • Audience: Product Owners/Mangers
     Size: 8-16 people
     Time: 2-4 days

Repeat workshops with different companies, operating units, departments, or teams as needed.

What is a workshop?

We WILL ENGAGE in discussions and activities:

• Flexible, to accommodate the needs of the group.
• Open forum for discussion and questions.
• Share your knowledge, expertise, and experiences (roadblocks and success stories).
• Everyone is part of the process.
• Builds upon itself.

This workshop will NOT be:

• A lecture or class.
• A monologue that never ends.
• Technical training.
• A presentation.
• Us making all the decisions.

Roles within the workshop

We each have a role to play to make our workshop successful!

Facilitators

• Introduce the best practice framework used by Info-Tech.
• Ask questions about processes, procedures, and assumptions.
• Guide for the methodology.
• Liaison for any other relevant Info-Tech research or services.

Participants

• Contribute and speak out as much as needed.
• Provide expertise on the current processes and technology.
• Ask questions.
• Provide feedback.
• Collaborate and work together to produce solutions.

Understanding Your Top Challenges

• Understanding Your Top Challenges
• Transitioning From Projects to Product-Centric Delivery
• Enterprise Agility and the Value of Change
• Defining Your Products and Product Management
• Connecting Product Management to Agile Practices
• Commit to Empowering Agile Product Teams
• Wrap-Up and Retrospective

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

• Products are the lifeblood of an organization. They deliver the capabilities needed to deliver value to customers, internal users, and stakeholders.
• The shift to becoming a product organization is intended to continually increase the value you provide to the broader organization as you grow and evolve.
• You need to clearly convey the direction and strategy of your product portfolio to gain alignment, support, and funding from your organization.

Common Obstacles

• IT organizations are traditionally organized to deliver initiatives in specific periods of time. This conflicts with product delivery, which continuously delivers value over the lifetime of a product.
• Delivering multiple products together creates additional challenges because each product has its own pedigree, history, and goals.
• Product owners struggle to prioritize changes to deliver product value. This creates a gap and conflict between product and enterprise goals.

Info-Tech's Approach

Info-Tech's approach will guide you through:

• Understanding the top challenges driving your product initiative.
• Improving your transitioning from projects to product-centric delivery.
• Enhancing enterprise agility and the value of change.
• Defining products and product management in your context.
• Connecting product management to Agile practices.
• Committing to empowering Agile Product teams.

What is driving your organization to become product focused?

30 minutes

• Team introductions:
  • Share your name and role
  • What are the key challenges you are looking to solve around product management?
  • What blockers or challenges will we need to overcome?

Capture in the Enable Product Delivery – Executive Leadership Workshop Outcomes and Next Steps.

Input

• Organizational knowledge
• Goals and challenges

Output

• List of key challenges
• List of workshop expectations
• Parking lot items

Transitioning From Projects to Product-Centric Delivery

• Understanding Your Top Challenges
• Transitioning From Projects to Product-Centric Delivery
• Enterprise Agility and the Value of Change
• Defining Your Products and Product Management
• Connecting Product Management to Agile Practices
• Commit to Empowering Agile Product Teams
• Wrap-Up and Retrospective

Define the differences between projects and product delivery

30 minutes

• Consider project delivery and product delivery.
• Discussion:
  • What are some differences between the two?

Capture in the Enable Product Delivery – Executive Leadership Workshop Outcomes and Next Steps.

Input

• Organizational knowledge
• Internal terms and definitions

Output

• List of differences between projects and product delivery

Define the differences between projects and product delivery

15 minutes

Input

• Organizational knowledge
• Internal terms and definitions

Output

• List of differences between projects and product delivery

Capture in the Enable Product Delivery – Executive Leadership Workshop Outcomes and Next Steps.

Identify the differences between a project-centric and a product-centric organization

Info-Tech Insight

Product delivery requires significant shifts in the way you complete development work and deliver value to your users. Make the changes that support improving end user value and enterprise alignment.

Projects can be a mechanism for funding product changes and improvements

Projects within products

Regardless of whether you recognize yourself as a "product-based" or "project-based" shop, the same basic principles should apply.

You go through a period or periods of project-like development to build a version of an application or product.

You also have parallel services along with your project development, which encompass the more product-based view. These may range from basic support and maintenance to full-fledged strategy teams or services like sales and marketing.

While Agile and product are intertwined, they are not the same!

Delivering products does not necessarily require an Agile mindset. However, Agile methods help facilitate the journey because product thinking is baked into them.

Product roadmaps guide delivery and communicate your strategy

In Deliver on Your Digital Product Vision, we demonstrate how the product roadmap is core to value realization. The product roadmap is your communicated path, and as a product owner, you use it to align teams and changes to your defined goals while aligning your product to enterprise goals and strategy.

Adapted from: Pichler, "What Is Product Management?"

Info-Tech Insight

The quality of your product backlog – and your ability to realize business value from your delivery pipeline – is directly related to the input, content, and prioritization of items in your product roadmap.

Prevent Data Loss Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments

Leverage existing tools and focus on the data that matters most to your organization.

Analyst Perspective

Data loss prevention is an additional layer of protection

Driven by reduced operational costs and improved agility, the migration to cloud services continues to grow at a steady rate. A recent report by Palo Alto Networks indicates workload in the cloud increased by 13% last year, and companies are expecting to move an additional 11% of their workload to the cloud in the next 24 months1.

However, moving to the cloud poses unique challenges for cyber security practitioners. Cloud services do not offer the same level of management and control over resources as traditional IT approaches. The result can be reduced visibility of data in cloud services and reduced ability to apply controls to that data, particularly data loss prevention (DLP) controls.

It’s not unusual for organizations to approach DLP as a point solution. Many DLP solutions are marketed as such. The truth is, DLP is a complex program that uses many different parts of an organization’s security program and architecture. To successfully implement DLP for data in the cloud, an organization should leverage existing security controls and integrate DLP tools, whether newly acquired or available in cloud services, with its existing security program.

Bob Wilson
CISSP
Research Director, Security and Privacy
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Info-Tech Insight

Data loss prevention is the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate, tools within your existing security program.

Your challenge

Protecting data is a critical responsibility for organizations, no matter where it is located.

45% of breaches occurred in the cloud (“Cost of a Data Breach 2022,” IBM Security, 2022).

It can take upwards of 12 weeks to identify and contain a breach (“Cost of a Data Breach 2022,” IBM Security, 2022).

• Compliance obligations will require organizations to protect certain data.
• All data states can exist in the cloud, and each state provides a unique opportunity for data loss.
• Insider threats, whether intentional or not, are especially challenging for organizations. It’s necessary to prevent illicit data use while still allowing work to happen.

Info-Tech Insight

Data loss prevention doesn’t depend on a single tool. Many of the leading cloud service providers offer DLP controls with their services and these controls should be considered.

Common obstacles

As organizations increasingly move data into the cloud, their environments become more complex and vulnerable to insider threats

• It’s not uncommon for an organization not to know what data they use, where that data exists, or how they are supposed to protect it.
• Cloud systems, especially software as a service (SaaS) applications, may not provide much visibility into how that data is stored or protected.
• Insider threats are a primary concern, but employees must be able to access data to perform their duties. It isn’t always easy to strike a balance between adequate access and being too restrictive with controls.

Insider threats are a significant concern

Info-Tech Insight

An insider threat management (ITM) program focuses on the user. DLP programs focus on the data.

Insight summary

DLP is not just a single tool. It’s an additional layer of security that depends on different components of your security program, and it requires time and effort to mature.

Organizations should leverage existing security architecture with the DLP controls available in the cloud services they use.

Data loss prevention is not a point solution

Data loss prevention is the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate tools within your existing security program.

Prioritize data

Start with the data that matters most to your organization.

Define an objective

Having a clearly defined objective will make implementing a DLP program much easier.

DLP is a layer

Data loss prevention is not foundational, and it depends on many other parts of a mature information security program.

The low hanging fruit is sweet

Start your DLP implementation with a quick win in mind and build on small successes.

DLP is a work multiplier

Your organization must be prepared to investigate alerts and respond to incidents.

Prevent data loss across cloud or hybrid environments

Data loss prevention is not a point solution.
It’s the outcome of a well-designed strategy that incorporates multiple, sometimes disparate tools within your existing security program.

Info-Tech Insight

Leverage existing security tools where possible.

Data loss prevention (DLP) overview

DLP is an additional layer of security.

DLP is a set of technologies and processes that provides additional data protection by identifying, monitoring, and preventing data from being illicitly used or transmitted.

DLP depends on many components of a mature security program, including but not limited to:

• Acceptable use policy
• Data classification policy and data handling guidelines
• Identity and access management

DLP is achieved through some or all of the following tactics:

• Identify: Data is detected using policies, rules, and patterns.
• Monitor: Data is flagged and data activity is logged.
• Prevent: Action is taken on data once it has been detected.

Info-Tech Insight

DLP is not foundational. Your information security program needs to be moderately mature to support a DLP strategy.

DLP approaches and methods

DLP uses a handful of techniques to achieve its tactics:

• Policy and access rights: Limits access to data based on user permissions or other contextual attributes.
• Isolation or virtualization: Data is isolated in an environment with channels for data leakage made unavailable.
• Cryptographic approach: Data is encrypted.
• Quantifying and limiting: Use or transfer of data is restricted by quantity.
• Social and behavioral analysis: The DLP system detects anomalous activity, such as users accessing data outside of business hours.
• Pattern matching: Data content is analyzed for specific patterns.
• Data mining and text clustering: Large sets are analyzed, typically with machine learning (ML), to identify patterns.
• Data fingerprinting: Data files are matched against a pre-calculated hash or based on file contents.
• Statistical Analysis: Data content is analyzed for sensitive data. Usually involves machine learning.

DLP has two primary approaches for applying techniques:

• Content-based: Data is identified through inspecting its content. Fingerprinting and pattern matching are examples of content-based methods.
• Context-based: Data is identified based on its situational or contextual attributes. Some factors that may be used are source, destination, and format.

Some DLP tools use both approaches.

Info-Tech Insight

Different DLP products will support different methods. It is important to keep these in mind when choosing a DLP solution.

Start by defining your data

Define data by answering the 5 “W”s

Who? Who owns the data? Who needs access? Who would be impacted if it was lost?
What? What data do you have? What type of data is it? In what format does it exist?
When? When is the data generated? When is it used? When is it destroyed?
Where? Where is the data stored? Where is it generated? Where is it used?
Why? Why is the data needed?

Use what you discover about your data to create a data inventory!

Compliance requirements

Compliance requirements often dictate what must be done to manage and protect data and vary from industry to industry.

Some examples of compliance requirements to consider:

• Healthcare - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Financial Services - Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)

Info-Tech Insight

Why is especially important. If you don’t need a specific piece of data, dispose of it to reduce risk and administrative overhead related to maintaining or protecting data.

Classify your data

Data classification facilitates making decisions about how data is treated.

Data classification is a process by which data is categorized.

• The classifications are often based on the sensitivity of the data or the impact a loss or breach of that data would have on the organization.
• Data classification facilitates decisions about data handling and how information security controls are implemented. Instead of considering many different types of data individually, decisions are based on a handful of classification levels.
• A mature data classification should include a formalized policy, handling standards, and a steering committee.

Refer to our Discover and Classify Your Data blueprint for guidance on data classification.

Sample data classification schema

Info-Tech Insight

Data classification should be implemented as a continuous program, not a one-time project.

Understand data risk

Knowing where and how your data is at risk will inform your DLP strategy.

Data exists in three states, and each state presents different opportunities for risk. Different DLP methodologies will be appropriate for different states.

Data states

In use

• End-user devices
• Mobile devices
• Servers

In motion

• Cloud services
• Email
• Web/web apps
• Instant messaging
• File transfers

At rest

• Cloud services
• Databases
• End-user devices
• Email archives
• Backups
• Servers
• Physical storage devices

Causes of Risk

The most common causes of data loss can be categorized by people, processes, and technology.

Check out our Combine Security Risk Management Components Into One Program blueprint for guidance on risk management, including how to do a full risk assessment.

Prioritize your data

Know what data matters most to your organization.

Prioritizing the data that most needs protection will help define your DLP goals.

The prioritization of your data should be a business decision based on your comprehension of the data. Drivers for prioritizing data can include:

• Compliance-driven: Noncompliance is a risk in itself and your organization may choose to prioritize data based on meeting compliance requirements.
• Audit-driven: Data can be prioritized to prepare for a specific audit objective or in response to an audit finding.
• Business-driven: Data could be prioritized based on how important it is to the organization’s business processes.

Info-Tech Insight

It’s not feasible for most organizations to apply DLP to all their data. Start with the most important data.

Activity: Prioritize your data

Input: Lists of data, data types, and data environments
Output: A list of data types with an estimated priority
Materials: Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner worksheet
Participants: Security leader, Data owners

1-2 hours

For this activity, you will use the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner workbook to prioritize your data.

1. Start with tab “2. Setup” and fill in the columns. Each column features a short explanation of itself, and the following slides will provide more detail about the columns.
2. On tab “3. Data Prioritization,” work through the rows by selecting a data type and moving left to right. This sheet features a set of instructions at the top explaining each column, and the following slides also provide some guidance. On this tab, you may use data types and data environments multiple times.

Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

Activity: Prioritize your data

In the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner tool, start with tab “2. Setup.”

Next, move to tab “3. Data Prioritization.”

Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

Determine DLP objectives

Your DLP strategy should be able to function as a business case.

DLP objectives should achieve one or more of the following:

• Prevent disclosure or unauthorized use of data, regardless of its state.
• Preserve usability while providing adequate security.
• Improve security, privacy, and compliance capabilities.
• Reduce overall risk for the enterprise.

Example objectives:

• Prevent users from emailing ePHI to addresses outside of the organization.
• Detect when a user is uploading an unusually large amount of data to a cloud drive.

Most common DLP use cases:

• Protection of data, primarily from internal threats.
• Meet compliance requirements to protect data.
• Automate the discovery and classification of data.
• Provide better data management and visibility across the enterprise.
• Manage and protect data on mobile devices.

Info-Tech Insight

Having a clear idea of your objectives will make implementing a DLP program easier.

Align DLP with your existing security program/architecture

DLP depends on many different aspects of your security program.
To the right are some components of your existing security program that will support DLP.

1. Data handling standards or guidelines: These specify how your organization will handle data, usually based on its classification. Your data handling standards will inform the development of DLP rules, and your employees will have a clear idea of data handling expectations.

2. Identity and access management (IAM): IAM will control the access users have to various resources and data and is integral to DLP processes.

3. Incident response policy or plan: Be sure to consider your existing incident handling processes when implementing DLP. Modifying your incident response processes to accommodate alerts from DLP tools will help you efficiently process and respond to incidents.

4. Existing security tools: Firewalls, email gateways, security information and event management (SIEM), and other controls should be considered or leveraged when implementing a DLP solution.

5. Acceptable use policy: An organization must set expectations for acceptable/unacceptable use of data and IT resources.

6. User education and awareness: Aside from baseline security awareness training, organizations should educate users about policies and communicate the risks of data leakage to reduce risk caused by user error.

Info-Tech Insight

Consider DLP as a secondary layer of protection; a safety net. Your existing security program should do most of the work to prevent data misuse.

Cloud service models

A fundamental challenge with implementing DLP with cloud services is the reduced flexibility that comes with managing less of the technology stack. Each cloud model offers varying levels of abstraction and control to the user.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS): This service model provides customers with virtualized technology resources, such as servers and networking infrastructure. IaaS allows users to have complete control over their virtualized infrastructure without needing to purchase and maintain hardware resources or server space. Popular examples include Amazon Web Servers, Google Cloud Engine, and Microsoft Azure.

Platform as a service (PaaS): This service model provides users with an environment to develop and manage their own applications without needing to manage an underlying infrastructure. Popular examples include Google Cloud Engine, OpenShift, and SAP Cloud.

Software as a service (SaaS): This service model provides customers with access to software that is hosted and maintained by the cloud provider. SaaS offers the least flexibility and control over the environment. Popular examples include Salesforce, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace.

Info-Tech Insight

Cloud service providers may include DLP controls and functionality for their environments with the subscription. These tools are usually well suited for DLP functions on that platform.

Different DLP tools

DLP products often fall into general categories defined by where those tools provide protection. Some tools fit into more than one category.

Cloud DLP refers to DLP products that are designed to protect data in cloud environments.

• Cloud access security broker (CASB): This system, either in-cloud or on-premises, sits between cloud service users and cloud service providers and acts as a point of control to enforce policies on cloud-based resources. CASBs act on data in motion, for the most part, but can detect and act on data at rest through APIs.
• Existing tools integrated within a service: Many cloud services provide DLP tools to manage data loss in their service.

Endpoint DLP: This DLP solution runs on an endpoint computing device and is suited to detecting and controlling data at rest on a computer as well as data being uploaded or downloaded. Endpoint DLP would be feasible for IaaS.

Network DLP: Network DLP, deployed on-premises or as a cloud service, enforces policies on network flows between local infrastructure and the internet.

• “Email DLP”: Detects and enforces security policies specifically on data in motion as emails.

Choosing a DLP solution

You will also find that some DLP solutions are better suited for some cloud service models than others.

DLP solution types that are better suited for SaaS: CASB and Integrated Tools

DLP solution types that are better suited for PaaS: CASB, Integrated Tools, Network DLP

DLP solution types that are better suited for IaaS: CASB, Integrated Tools, Network DLP, and Endpoint DLP

Your approach for DLP will vary depending on the data state you’ll be acting on and whether you are trying to detect or prevent.

Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner
Check the tab labeled “6. DLP Features Reference” for a list of common DLP features.

Activity: Plan DLP methods

Input: Knowledge of data states for data types
Output: A set of technical DLP policy rules for each data type by environment
Materials: The same Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner worksheet from the earlier activity
Participants: Security leader, Data owners

1-2 hours

Continue with the same workbook used in the previous activity.

1. On tab “4. DLP Methods,” indicate the expected data state the DLP control will act on. Then, select the type of DLP control your organization intends to use for that data type in that data environment.
2. DLP actions are suggested based on the classification of the data type, but these may be overridden by manually selecting your preferred action.
3. You will find more detail on this activity on the following slide, and you will find some additional guidance in the instructional text at the top of the worksheet.
4. Once you have populated the columns on this worksheet, a summary of suggested DLP rules can be found on tab “5. Results.”

Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

Activity: Plan DLP methods

Use tab “4. DLP Methods” to plan DLP rules and technical policies.

See tab “5. Results” for a summary of your DLP policies.

Click to download the Data Loss Prevention Strategy Planner

Implement your DLP program

Take the steps to properly implement your DLP program

1. It’s important to shift the culture. You will need leadership’s support to implement controls and you’ll need stakeholders’ participation to ensure DLP controls don’t negatively affect business processes.
2. Integrate DLP tools with your security program. Most cloud service providers, like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google provide DLP controls in their native environment. Many of your other security controls, such as firewalls and mail gateways, can be used to achieve DLP objectives.
3. DLP is best implemented with a crawl, walk, then run approach. Following change management processes can reduce friction.
4. Communicating controls to users will also reduce friction.

Info-Tech Insight

After a DLP program is implemented, alerts will need to be investigated and incidents will need a response. Be prepared for DLP to be a work multiplier!

Measure and improve

Metrics of effectiveness

DLP attempts to tackle the challenge of promptly detecting and responding to an incident.
To measure the effectiveness of your DLP program, compare the number of events, number of incidents, and mean time to respond to incidents from before and after DLP implementation.

Metrics that indicate friction

A high number of false positives and rule exceptions may indicate that the rules are not working well and may be interfering with legitimate use.
It’s important to address these issues as the frustration felt by employees can undermine the DLP program.

Tune DLP rules

Establish a process for routinely using metrics to tune rules.
This will improve performance and reduce friction.

Info-Tech Insight

Aside from performance-based tuning, it’s important to evaluate your DLP program periodically and after major system or business changes to maintain an awareness of your data environment.

Related Info-Tech Research

Research Contributors

Andrew Amaro
CSO and Founder
Klavan Physical and Cyber Security Services

Arshad Momin
Cyber Security Architect
Unicom Engineering, Inc.

James Bishop
Information Security Officer
StructureFlow

Michael Mitchell
Information Security and Privacy Compliance Manager
Unicom Engineering, Inc.

One Anonymous Contributor

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