The rapid adoption of the chief data officer (CDO) role – from 400 in 2014 to 1,000 in 2015 – raises important questions about the structure and positioning of the office of the CDO in organisations.

According to analyst firm Gartner, there are four organisational design principles that CDOs should apply when designing their office.

The organisational design of the office of the CDO must clearly take account of the role that data is expected to play in the organisation, said Mario Faria, research VP at Gartner.

Most CDOs, however, are new to the role and often have little experience with managing large teams or designing and changing organisational structures.

>See also: 90% of large organisations will have a chief data officer by 2019 – Gartner

“There’s no one correct way to design a CDO office – its structure and strength depend on how it is used by the evolving organisation,” said Faria. “In Gartner’s model, the organisational design depends on four possible ways to organise and exploit the benefits of data within the business.”

To help CDOs and other business leaders meet the needs of their organisation and structure the office of the CDO appropriately, Gartner has identified four value propositions.

1. CDO organisation as an engine room

The office of the CDO delivers operational data services that are focused on the needs of the internal users. It succeeds by monitoring any data market developments and building expertise in data asset usage, information management and analytics.

2. Everyone’s CDO organisation

The office of the CDO focuses on the needs of the internal users. But there is a strong push for data assets to be used aggressively by business leaders and individual contributors to break through traditional perimeters of business, and to drive transformation and new digital business models across the organisation.

3. CDO organisation as a business service provider

The office of the CDO delivers operational data services that are used by both internal and external users. The activities are expanded and integrated into a shared-service organisation that runs like a business.

>See also: The future of the CDO: Chief Data Officers need to sit near the top

4. CDO organisation is the business

Information is one of the explicit external offerings of the organisation or is inseparable from the product line. The office of the CDO delivers internal and external data services that drive business transformation and differentiation.

“The CDO organisational design is about people,” said Faria. “It is easy enough to think about what kind of CDO an organisation needs in order to meet its business goals, but it can be harder to put in place the right people to deliver on that structure.

“It’s vital CDOs think critically about what skills and behaviours will be required by the office of the CDO in the short, medium and long term.”