Data visualization

Data visualization provides core benefits to CIOs and their businesses, here are some

It’s not easy being a CIO these days, but data visualization is playing a crucial role in how they understand, process, and share all of this information with their colleagues and customers. Data visualization provides core benefits to CIOs and their businesses, which help them adapt and grow into their seemingly ever-evolving role.

The ability to make faster decisions is crucial when every second counts. By glancing at visual charts, business leaders can understand what systems or processes are working, which ones aren’t, if resources need to be reallocated, and so on. A much more efficient way to communicate as leadership teams can relay time-sensitive and urgent information in a way that’s easy for everyone to digest from the C-suite to managers. Finally cleaning up (and managing) big data; because most organizations have invested millions in different tools to be able to process and utilize this data, they can now make it more actionable by being able to digest it. This is the missing piece that can bring it all together and make it work.

The CIO’s job has never been simple, but the move to the cloud has made standard business operations even more complex. To support today’s Agile approach, CIOs have to manage and align multiple teams across the organization to achieve the larger business strategy. COVID-19 has additionally required CIOs to create new processes that enable IT organizations to function as normal but in a remote environment.

Many organizations address these difficulties by adding even more systems, procedures, and policies to their operations. In other words, fighting complexity with more complexity.

Piling new administrative processes on top of what already exists places new requirements on employees to spend increased time on administrative tasks. In some organizations, these types of non-value-added activities take up as much as 60% of employees’ time, leaving less bandwidth and energy for innovation and creativity. The added red tape can make it difficult for teams to adapt and stay aligned, and contributors can quickly lose sight of the overall strategic framework.

Flowcharts, diagrams, and other visualization techniques show a process, strategy, or roadmap from start to finish, effectively clarifying what needs to happen and when. Instead of pouring over stacks of written documents and spreadsheets, stakeholders can see dependencies and bottlenecks. Most importantly, these visuals can also incorporate necessary resources alongside the tasks to be completed.

The process of data visualization allows CIOs to identify when teams are overburdened and where delivery delays can occur. For example, if one team member is handling too many tasks that others are waiting on, timelines and assignments may need to be re-evaluated. A flowchart can visually identify this roadblock before the individual becomes overwhelmed, allowing tasks to be reallocated before delays occur.