A data strategy that names owners, not just ambitions
Agilus provides data strategy consulting to enterprises in South Africa and beyond: we define your data target state, design the operating model that will run it, and sequence the roadmap so the investment survives contact with a CFO. The work is anchored to the Data Governance and Data Architecture knowledge areas of DAMA-DMBOK2.
Why do most data strategies fail?
Because they are documents, not decisions. The typical data strategy names technologies and ambitions — “become data-driven”, “single view of customer”, “AI-enabled” — but not the three things that determine whether anything changes:
- Who owns each data domain — by name, with authority to fix what is broken
- How decisions get made — which forum, which decision rights, which escalation path
- What gets done first — sequenced by business value, not by what the vendor sells
A strategy that skips these is shelf-ware within a quarter.
What our data strategy engagement delivers
Current-state baseline
Where your data management actually stands — scored across seven pillars against DAMA-DMBOK2 and DCAM using DM360. Not a workshop opinion; a measured position.
Target state and architecture
The data architecture, platforms and capability model your business strategy actually requires — including cloud transition where it earns its place, not because it is fashionable.
Operating model and stewardship
Data ownership by domain, steward roles people can do alongside their day jobs, a governance forum with teeth, and decision rights that end the arguments.
Sequenced roadmap and business case
What to do first, what it costs, what it unlocks — sized in rand terms a CFO can interrogate.
Who is this for?
- A CDO or CIO building the data function from scratch or rebuilding one that lost credibility
- An executive team that has approved "data-driven" as an ambition and now needs it turned into a plan
- A transformation programme discovering mid-flight that data is the critical path
Common questions
What is a data strategy?
A data strategy defines how an organisation will manage and use its data as an asset: the target architecture, the ownership and governance model, the priority initiatives and the investment case. A good data strategy is measured against a standard — Agilus uses DAMA-DMBOK2 and DCAM — so progress can be tracked objectively.
How long does a data strategy engagement take?
A typical Agilus data strategy engagement runs six to ten weeks: two to three weeks of baseline assessment, two to three weeks of target-state and operating-model design, and two weeks to sequence the roadmap and business case with your executives.
What is a data operating model?
A data operating model defines who does what in managing an organisation’s data: domain ownership, steward roles, the governance forum, decision rights and escalation paths. It is the difference between a data strategy that changes an organisation and one that stays a document.
Start with a measured baseline
Take the free 6-minute AI Readiness Scorecard
Related: Data Governance & Compliance · Consulting overview