CIO View: The Business Wins that Make a Big Difference.

Just how important are data and analytics to an enterprise? Maybe it’s immeasurable in the grand scheme, unless you can tie the improvements to some financial bottom line. More likely, the real value in being data driven is found in a series of improvements and little wins that make it easier to get work done, save costs, or keep customers happy.

Three CIOs highlighted how data is making a difference in their organizations during a CIO roundtable at last month’s Interop conference. The speakers came from three very different organizations — the NCAA, the City of Detroit, and Hitachi Vantara. What they had in common was that they have achieved a series of improvements in how they do business. Examples: a chatbot that helps to deliver IT services to employees, freeing up IT staff to focus on bigger issues; improving city services through better management of hundreds of thousands of city assets such as traffic signals; and even comparing the strengths of college basketball teams and predicting game results.

Each application, alone, may not be an earth shaker, but can help start to string together many such improvements. The insights that they bring, and each organization, along with those that they serve, begin to notice the difference.

The InformationWeek and Interop teams hope you’ll give a listen to this first of a series of Interop keynote videos: