| | NOVEMBER 20219CIOReviewFinding the appropriate balance between having too little technology and too much technology, breaking down silos, and companywide cross-functional collaboration leads to effective use of technology and continuous improvement and innovationa Business Architecture group that's focused on understanding the processes needed by our teams and designing them to fit them best. This proactive model considers Ardent Mills as a whole and solves common reactive model issues, focusing on immediate needs only versus long-term goals. This holistic mindset allows our teams to function correctly and efficiently and use data to make insights-backed business decisions. Managing Data Across Your OrganizationManaging data properly across your organization is essential to having factual data that's easy to access and can be used to drive decisions that maximize value. A great example of how we accomplish this is through our cross-functional organization that spans across business functions and IT. Here's a breakdown: Business: We've established roles for Data Stewardship, Self Service Data Analysts, Data & Analytic Leads, and a Data & Analytics Board (Senior Directors) that help bring everything together and make decisions on priority and various options. IT: We've established an Enterprise Architecture group that aligns our technology stack to reduce redundancy and ensure it's implemented in a way that supports data alignment across systems. To truly be successful with data, you must align technology solutions that all work together from a data perspective. Applications (developed, purchased, or a combination) -- Create and maintain data. Integrations -- Make data available to other applications. Data Warehouses ­ Optimize data and centralize it for easier and faster analysis.If these teams don't align on how they're implementing their technology and collaborate, you will run into efficiency problems. Being aligned internally is key to successfully leveraging technology.Value of Technology and People All in all, technology doesn't work if you don't have the right people and processes in place while actively managing your data. At Ardent Mills, we make our technology decisions based on what's required to support employees and customers, processes, and data while trying to maintain a simplified technology stack. Finding the appropriate balance between having too little technology and too much technology, breaking down silos, and companywide cross-functional collaboration leads to effective use of technology and continuous improvement and innovation. As long as you prioritize people, processes, and data over "the next big thing" you're sure to have success across the business and IT. Jason Urban
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