你真的需要一名首席数据官吗？

信息和数据有什么区别？在阅读一些讲述首席数据官崛起的文章时，我的脑子似乎有点转不过弯了。首席数据官（Chief Data Officer）显然跟首席信息官（Chief Information Officer）是两个完全不同的岗位，但我们大多数人恐怕都认为二者是可以相互替代的。

不开玩笑了。福雷斯特研究公司发布的这篇文章反映出，在过去12个月里，一个具有独特职能的首席数据官职位正在快速崛起。

在福雷斯特公司定期调查的约3000家公司中，已有45%的公司任命专人负责公司数据战略，另有16%的公司计划在一年内指定专人负责这项工作。越是那些业绩突出的企业，比如年收入增长率在10%以上的企业，越倾向于设置这个职位。

在不同企业，首席数据官的职责差别很大，这主要取决于雇主的需求。比如，有些企业的首席数据官主要负责数据管理与合规工作，以及更好地对数据进行组织，使其更紧密地结合到现有业务流程中。还有些企业的首席数据官主要负责预测分析与见解，特别是着重分析那些有助于使企业更加以客户为导向的数据。

更令人摸不着头脑的是，有些企业还任命了所谓“首席数字官”（Chief Digital Officer），它的缩写“CDO”也和首席数据官完全相同。乍一看来，首席数字官们关注的事情与首席数据官很不一样，比如，他们会关注纸质业务流程自动化之类。但归根结底，二者的目的是一致的，即通过数据的使用使企业变得更加智能，再以更加智能的方式继续收集数据。

至于具体选择哪项技术来达到目的，这个权力则保留在首席信息官手里。福雷斯特公司的分析师詹妮弗•伯利森特表示：“拥有一个首席数据官并不是成功的先决条件，但在这样一个数据化的世界里，竞争对手都在从数据中收集具有可行性的见解，如果你没有这种能力，那么你最好重新思考一下，自己该怎样实现业务目标，以保障企业的生存。首席数据官则从数据的角度，为企业打了一针强心剂。”

目前，首席数据官们既要向首席信息官报告工作，同时也要向首席执行官报告工作。这也强调了该职位的一个重要职责：让业务主管和信息技术主管掌握同样的信息。福雷斯特公司在《业绩最出色的企业纷纷任命首席数据官》一文中指出：“最成功的首席数据官，可能是凭借自己在工作中总结的最佳操作，为自己挣得了这样一个职位，然后又把它带到了另一家企业。”

不过，在很多著名的所谓“数据原生代”企业的管理团队中，你是不会发现首席数据官这类职位的。比如，优步和Netflix就没有这样的职务。这是因为自从这些公司成立的第一天起，数据的重要性就一直居于公司战略的核心。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

审校：任文科

What’s the difference between information and data? I found myself puzzling over this brain bender while reading new Forrester Research about the rise of the Chief Data Officer. This is, apparently, an altogether different corporate species than the Chief Information Officer even though most of us those descriptors interchangeably.

Kidding aside, Forrester’s window in the mindsets of technology decision makers illustrate the fast rise of a separate and distinct CDO role over the past 12 months.

Fully 45% of the roughly 3,000 companies it polls regularly have assigned someone to oversee data strategy, while another 16% plan to do so within another year. “Top performers” boasting revenue growth of more than 10% were even more likely to include this role on their organizational charts.

The CDO’s job description varies dramatically, depending on the employer. For some companies, it’s about governance and compliance, about better organizing data so access is more tightly embedded into existing business processes. Others focus on the power of predictive analytics and insights, especially ones that help them become more customer-obsessed.

Just to further confuse matters, some companies appoint Chief Digital Officers, a title that winds up wanting the same acronym. On the face of it, digital strategists are focused on very different things than data gurus, such as automating paper-dependent business process. But both have the same central concern: making a company smarter by using the data it already has—and continues to collect—in smarter ways.

The mandate for choosing the specific technology to pull this off usually remains with the CIO. “Having a CDO isn’t a prerequisite to success, but in a data-driven world, where competitors glean actionable insights from their data, if you don’t have the ability to do that you better think twice about how you plan to achieve your goals and eventually survive,” notes Forrester analyst Jennifer Belissent. “The CDO role galvanizes an organization around the promise of data.

Right now, CDOs are equally as likely to report to the CEO as they are to the CIO. That underscores one of the more important aspects of this job: helping line-of-business executives and information technology get (and stay) on the same page. “The most successful CDO potentially works themselves out of a job by establishing a best practice and transferring it to another organization,” Forrester notes in its analysis,“Top Performers Appoint Chief Data Officers.”(Subscription required.)

By the way, you won’t find a CDO on the management teams of many highly visible “digital natives” Neither Uber nor Netflix has one. But that’s because data has been central their strategy since Day One.