Data lakes, pools, puddles, reservoirs; the logical data warehouse; enterprise data hubs; hybrid data architecture – these concepts, products and buzz are both exciting and possibly overwhelming at the same time. Impressive use-cases of scale are all around us, offering new and powerful insights from data. How do enterprises make sense of all the chatter out there, and more importantly, where does one begin?

Taking the time to look at the basics of why you are in the business of managing enterprise data is a good starting point to advance your journey. What business functions do you support or conduct? What is your data supply chain? What data management needs do you have? It is very likely you have needs across transactional, integration, warehousing, reporting / analytics, and even master data management. Assess if you have use-cases for structured and unstructured, and if an integration across those is necessary. Approach your journey with an eye toward your needs and begin exploring a technology framework that best supports your mission. Understand the human capital implications of your choices: do you have the right bench to execute?

In this talk, I will provide a brief overview of a Fannie Mae data case for change that is broadly applicable to enterprises, our back-to-basics data management approach, and how we developed a realistic strategy that leveraged our existing data management capabilities and drove us to embrace emerging processes, techniques and technologies. I will also outline how we manage our most valuable assets – our people – to guide our strategy and realize our mission.