The Journey to Data-Driven Performance Management
In this guide, we will share insights on what effective data-driven performance management looks like, and how to build a roadmap that makes it achievable. Whether you’re just starting out or aiming to build on your existing business intelligence capabilities, this guide will help you take the next step with confidence.
1. Introduction
Recent research from the IDC says that 83% of CEOs want a data-driven organization but only 33% of executives are comfortable questioning business KPIs and metrics, revealing disparity between what executives want and what they have.
Businesses need more than just access to information; they need a vision that turns data into direction and action. At Staria, we support companies across a wide variety of industries to build business performance management frameworks that combine planning, analytics, and technology with a clear path to becoming data-driven.
Our team has guided businesses of all sizes and stages of growth through this transformation. In some organizations, BI can be broken - reporting is manual, responsibilities are miscommunicated, and performance can be stalled. We help them to unify siloed data, improve forecasting, align teams to strategic goals, and embed real-time decision-making into daily operations.
In this guide, we will share insights on what effective data-driven performance management looks like, and how to build a roadmap that makes it achievable. Whether you’re just starting out or aiming to build on your existing business intelligence capabilities, this guide will help you take the next step with confidence.
2. Turning vision into action: A practical roadmap
We outline five stages that support your development, from being a business that possesses data to one that thrives on it. Covering everything from stories of inspiration to the power of responsibility, following along with each stage will progress your journey to becoming a totally data-driven business.
What does it mean to be data-driven and why should you want to be? Data is undoubtedly a source of competitive advantage; in fact, a recent study showed that:
Leaders of advanced insight driven companies believe they grow at least 20% more annually compared to competitors.
However, these days, being data-driven moves beyond overly detailed reporting solely run by CFOs. It provides practical, business-wide insights that improve processes, reduce costs, refine products, and increase the efficiency of resource use.
Becoming data-driven is less about the size of your operation and more about the focus on improving and achieving continued growth through being the best you can be. Identifying opportunities and eliminating threats by understanding the key elements that contribute to you being able to sell to and retain customers.
Whether that’s a local restaurant that meticulously manages everything from ingredients, suppliers, and their ideal customer profile, or a multi-national enterprise with global headcounts and million-dollar budgets.
It’s about knowing, paying attention to, and acting upon what sets you apart. Utilizing your data and turning it into information is what fuels the engine of ambition. Simply put, becoming data-driven is for businesses that want to operate to their full potential.
3. Case study
The data-driven engine: The transformation story of Rolls-Royce
Perhaps one of the most remarkable business transformations in recent history belongs to an engineering giant many thought had lost its way. Rolls-Royce, famed for powering the world’s smoothest cars, largest aircrafts, and military submarines, was for years a company struggling to live up to its name.
Before a new leader took the helm as CEO in 2023, Rolls-Royce had spent a decade marked by profit warnings, underwhelming restructures and the devastating blow of COVID-19, which grounded the company’s revenue streams along with its customer aircrafts.
Yet what looked like a recovery dependent on luck was, in fact, a masterclass in data-driven, purpose-led business transformation. Their new leader arrived not to run another restructure, but to reimagine the company’s entire operating model. Engaging with stakeholders, benchmarking against competitors, and gathering extensive operational data, Rolls-Royce teams were able to identify the root problems.
And their conclusion? A stark diagnosis that was more than a case of COVID, but a decade long decline.
Using a structured framework, co-created by staff, their redemption strategy was built on transparency, rigorous performance management, and relentless pace. The business led an intense turnaround – fixing their broken BI – by using clear data and brutal honesty. Resulting in teams that weren’t demoralized but instead mobilized with a sense of urgency.
Rolls-Royce’s approach to development was equally data-driven, while remaining inclusive. Workshops were held with 500 plus employees to generate ideas grounded in realities, avoiding unrealistic consultancy and detached roadmaps. From there, visions could be turned into tangible, trackable initiatives, managing progress with metrics and clarity.
The results spoke for themselves. Rolls-Royce’s share price rose significantly, dividends resumed, and operating margins soared from 2.5% to 16.6% in just one year. Crucially, the company adopted a performance driven culture, tracking core initiatives and reorganizing leadership to support delivery.
The Rolls-Royce case highlights that real transformation is built on facts, not optimism. By fusing data led diagnosis, co-created strategy, transparent communication, and relentless execution, the company is reclaiming its place in the global industrial elite not by resting on its brand, but by finally catching up to it.
For leaders navigating volatility today, Rolls-Royce’s recovery is a timely reminder, you don’t need a lucky break, you need a clear view of your numbers, a disciplined plan, and the courage to act.
By using BI and planning tools to optimize decision making, remove months of manual work, and empower beyond the C-Suite to use data that informs decision making. So how do you do it?
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4. Is your business truly data-driven?
Data-driven companies are 23 times more likely to top their competitors in customer acquisition, about 19 times more likely to stay profitable and nearly seven times more likely to retain customers.
If any of these challenges resonate, your business may be operating below its potential and missing out on the strategic power of true business intelligence and performance management:
Disconnected teams and decisions
Without a unified data strategy, different departments operate in silos, relying on inconsistent data and gut feelings over facts. Strategic alignment suffers, and decision-making becomes reactive.
Limited visibility and slow insight
Manual reporting processes and outdated tools delay access to key metrics. Leaders can’t get a real-time view of performance and so risk missing opportunities for timely action.
Inability to forecast or adapt
Without a solid planning approach, businesses struggle with scenario modelling, risk assessment, and resource planning. This can make organizations vulnerable in fast-paced industries.
Low data confidence and usage
Broken BI means poor data quality and unclear ownership, which reduces trust in insights and reports. Employees rely on manual spreadsheets or decide ‘data’ is not their job, stalling performance improvements. In this scenario you can consider your Business Intelligence (BI) to be broken.
What data-driven business performance management looks like?
True business performance management goes beyond tracking metrics. At Staria, we believe it’s about creating a collaborative, insight-driven organization where decisions are aligned with strategy, and teams are empowered. For example, think of the genius of personalized user experience or the importance of consumer-centric product development.
These core customer principles are heroed alongside the results of data-driven business management to make up the world’s leading consumer brands. BI, of course, plays a critical role in enabling this, alongside a wider ‘toolkit’, a robust data infrastructure, clear governance, and a culture of accountability.
Here’s what it looks like in practice:
By bringing together strategy, technology, people, and process, we believe that data-driven performance management gives you a competitive advantage.
Plan and Goal Alignment
Performance management starts with defining clear financial and operational goals that are directly tied to the broader business strategy. KPIs should act as a compass, guiding decisions, prioritizing resources, and connecting everyday activities to the desired outcomes.
Data You Can Trust
Decisions must be based on trusted data. That requires a single, integrated source of truth. A modern data platform with strong governance ensures accuracy, consistency, and integration across systems, ideally brought together through one data platform. With clean, consistent, and timely data, business leaders can move from reactive reporting to proactive performance management.
Tools That Fit Your Needs
Technology should enhance your business and your day-to-day, not complicate them. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. From forecasting to dashboards to reporting, your tools should reflect your organization’s needs and maturity, evolving as you do.
A Culture of Collaboration and Accountability
High-performing organizations embed data into their culture, encouraging communication across teams, promoting data literacy, and fostering a mindset of curiosity, transparency, and accountability at every level.
5. A five-stage framework to become truly data-driven
Becoming a truly data-driven organization doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey that requires holistic planning, the right technology, and a commitment to change. At Staria, we guide businesses through this transformation in clearly defined stages, ensuring every step builds toward long-term success.
Becoming a data-driven organization is a journey, which unfolds over time, measured in years, and sometimes decades.
Wherever you are in your data journey, understanding the path ahead helps you plan with confidence.
A Staged Approach to BI and Planning Success
Stage 1: Data vision and roadmap development
Before implementing any tools or processes, it’s crucial to step back and understand your current data environment. This first stage lays the groundwork for success by involving key stakeholders and setting a clear direction.
Define realistic organizational goals, requirements, and capabilities before looking at your data strategy
This is key for two reasons. Firstly, it ensures that you’re clear about what you’re trying to achieve before you start. Remember, a data-driven culture goes far beyond reports. It’s about using information to collaborate and achieve the optimum outcome – ensure you know what that outcome should be.
Secondly, this also provides the framework to be clear about what data, information, and reports you need to drive improvements. In essence, this refers to the ‘record-to-report’ (R2R) process – if you need to report on it, you need to ensure you have the means to do so!
Develop a business-wide data vision aligned with organizational goals
A business-wide data vision is usually driven in response to demands for clearer insight into business performance and forecasting. This sparks a wider C-suite conversation to align priorities and assess the investment needed.
Many businesses hesitate when faced with the scale of change and are forced to stay reliant on spreadsheets, limiting visibility, increasing risk, and holding back more efficient decision making.
Identify key stakeholders to gain alignment and engagement
This process relies on early alignment from key stakeholders. The CFO typically leads the charge, with the CEO as a vital sponsor, especially as boards demand sharper forecasting and financial accuracy. It’s critical to involve other C-level leaders like Sales and Operations, who bring valuable insights from the front line.
Understand the value of a centralized data platform
A centralized data platform provides a single source of truth for business planning, ensuring that teams work from consistent, up-to-date information.
It streamlines data access, reduces duplication, and improves decision-making by offering a holistic view of business performance. By integrating data from multiple sources, it enables faster, more informed planning cycles and supports cross-functional collaboration.
Create a tailored roadmap for BI adoption
Start by taking an honest, realistic view of your current data landscape and
business processes to understand where you are on the journey. It’s crucial at this stage to fully commit to becoming a data-driven business, ensuring you have the right resources, flexibility, and internal capability to support and sustain the adoption of a BI and planning platform. Successful adoption isn’t a one-off project, but an ongoing process of alignment, enablement, and continuous improvement.
Do we have a shared vision for how data will drive value in our business?
The importance and value of a centralized data platform
Read our guide: Laying the foundation for data-driven business performance: Why CFOs must prioritize a data platform
Stage 2: Select and implement "future flexible" technology
With a vision in place, it’s time to select and implement a BI platform that fits your needs. This stage is about choosing tools that integrate with your existing systems and ensuring your teams are ready to use them effectively.
Evaluate and select the right BI platform for your business
Choosing the right BI and planning platform is a critical decision that shapes how effectively your business will leverage data. Focus on solutions that integrate seamlessly with your existing systems, can scale with your growth, and provide the reporting, analytics, and forecasting capabilities you need. It’s important to assess not just technical functionality but also ease of use, accessibility for non-technical users, and alignment with your overall data strategy.
Prepare your systems, processes, and people for implementation
A successful route to BI implementation relies on more than just the features of a new platform. It requires entire operational readiness. At this stage you should have assessed your current systems and data quality, ensuring that your key sources are accurate, accessible and ready to be integrated. It is equally important to prepare your people at this stage, providing training and managing expectations about how the new platform will improve their work and decision making.
Align implementation with your strategic and operational goals
To realise the full potential of your BI and planning platform, its implementation must be directly connected to your operational objectives. Identify the business outcomes you want to achieve and from there you can prioritize your platform rollout around them. This ensures the platform will deliver meaningful value and become an essential tool for managing business performance.
Are our teams equipped and aligned to get value from the technology we’re deploying?
Stage 3: Financial reporting and planning
Once your platform is live, the priority shifts to gaining control and clarity over financial
data. This stage focuses on building robust financial reporting and planning processes that provide a single version of the truth for decision-making. We start with finance at Staria because it plays a key role in driving cross-functional alignment and creating a culture where teams understand the numbers, own their targets, and collaborate around outcomes, thus laying a strong operational foundation for the business-wide metadata required for performance management.
Accurate financial analysis and reporting
At this stage, finance teams move beyond fragmented spreadsheets and manual processes to establish a single, reliable source of financial truth. Real-time reporting consolidates data from multiple sources, giving leaders the ability to see a clear picture of performance as it happens. Interactive dashboards and visualizations make it easier to identify trends, track KPIs, and spot risks or opportunities, while structured reporting templates create consistency and reduce errors.
By standardizing these processes, businesses not only improve transparency and compliance but also build confidence in their numbers, enabling faster and better-informed decisions.
Agile budgeting and forecasting
Traditional budgeting often relies on best guesses made at the start of the year, leaving businesses vulnerable to outdated assumptions. With a BI platform in place, budgeting becomes more dynamic and responsive. impact, allowing leaders to shift priorities without guesswork.
Finance teams can use integrated scenario planning to test different assumptions and instantly see their impact, allowing leaders to shift priorities without guesswork. Finance teams can use integrated scenario planning to test different assumptions and instantly see their impact, allowing leaders to shift priorities without guesswork.
Departmental inputs are centralized on one platform, replacing scattered templates and email chains with a single collaborative space. This ensures budgets remain “lived in”, i.e. continuously updated and relevant as conditions change.
Laying the foundation for broader planning
Mastering financial reporting and planning creates a solid foundation for the next stage of growth. When finance teams trust their data and can produce accurate, flexible budgets, they set the standard for how performance is managed across the organization.
This financial clarity becomes the springboard for integrating broader operational data, enabling a truly holistic approach to business planning in Stage 4.
Do we fully trust our financial data, and can we use it to create flexible, evidence-based budgets and forecasts?
Stage 4: Operational and business reporting and planning: Data empowerment and culture
With financial processes in place, organizations can expand their view beyond finance by incorporating wider operational data sources - from HR, Sales, Marketing, and Customer Experience - to create a complete performance picture. This broader lens not only improves planning but also tees up the cultural shift towards becoming a truly data-driven organisation.
Integrate operational data sources
Once financial reporting and planning are under control, organizations can widen their lens by incorporating operational data from across the business. HR data reveals workforce trends, Sales and Marketing provide pipeline and conversion insights, and Customer Experience offers measures of satisfaction and service quality.
When combined with financial data, these insights create a richer, more forward-looking view of performance. This integration allows leaders to align departmental objectives, refine forecasts, and make better-informed decisions that connect strategy to execution.
Standardization and governance
As data sources expand beyond finance, maintaining consistency and integrity becomes critical. Standardizing definitions, KPIs, and reporting frameworks ensures that everyone, from HR to Sales to Marketing, is working with the same understanding of performance.
Clear governance structures define ownership and access, supported by robust policies for quality control, privacy, and security. By embedding these practices early, businesses build trust in their information, making it easier for teams to rely on data as a common reference point for decisions.
Empower teams and build culture
With financial and operational insights in place, the focus can shift to enabling people across the organization to use that data effectively. Intuitive dashboards and self-service analytics give teams access to the information most relevant to them, reducing dependence on finance or specialist analysts.
As employees begin to make evidence-based decisions in their day-to-day work, a cultural shift takes place. Leaders can amplify this momentum by appointing change ‘champions’, setting expectations for data-driven behaviour, and fostering collaboration around shared goals. Over time, operational data doesn’t just inform planning, it becomes the foundation for a culture where insights drive action and innovation.
Do we have the operational data and cultural foundations to make confident, organization-wide decisions?
Stage 5: Data-driven performance management
This is where it all comes together. In the final stage, data becomes the foundation of performance management across the organization. With the right culture, tools, and habits in place, businesses can act on insights in real time – driving agility, collaboration, and sustainable growth.
Use KPIs and visualizations to monitor progress and drive continuous improvement
Provide clear, easy-to-follow information for your entire team about what’s important to their job, in real-time. This empowers individuals throughout your organization, with a full understanding of their roles, to drive positive change or engage in meaningful solution-focused discussions about delivering improvements.
Foster cross-team collaboration based on one shared version of data
When teams work from a shared, trusted source of data, they can communicate more openly, align their goals, and build stronger partnerships. This shared understanding helps them work better together as people, quickly spot opportunities for growth, uncover areas for improvement, champion accountability and address potential challenges before they escalate.
Respond quickly to market changes and opportunities using real-time insights
In a true data-led culture, opportunities and threats are continually discovered, analyzed, and acted upon as part of everyday business. Real-time insights into company-wide information make it possible to base these actions on evidence, measure their impact, reduce risk, and increase the success rate of decisions and outcomes.
Are we making decisions based on data consistently, confidently, and across the business?
Where should you focus first?
Understanding your current stage helps you focus efforts where they matter most. Whether you’re building your foundation or striving for full data-driven performance management, we’re here to guide you through every stage by supporting you to align your people, technology, and processes to unlock the full value of your data.
How Staria guides you through the journey
Building a data-driven organization isn’t just about choosing the right technology, it’s about having the right partner. At Staria, we combine deep business understanding with technical expertise to guide our clients at every stage of the BI journey.
From discovery and strategy to platform implementation and cultural change, we’re here to help you define a roadmap that’s tailored to your business. Our experts ensure that the tools, teams, and processes are aligned so that data becomes a real driver of performance.
6. Making it happen
We’ve demonstrated that becoming a data-driven business isn’t about size, it’s about ambition. While many organizations aspire to be data-led, few achieve it due to disconnected systems, siloed teams and low data confidence.
This guide outlined a practical, staged framework for transforming business performance management by embedding data-driven culture and enabling real time, evidence-based decision making. From setting a clear data vision to implementing the right tool for you and fostering data literacy across teams, businesses can unlock the full potential of their information. Through real-world examples we demonstrate how better forecasting, operational alignment and performance management can drive sustainable growth.
At Staria we partner with organizations to navigate this transformation, delivering scalable solutions and helping businesses at every stage to plan smarter, move faster, and thrive on data.
Let’s talk about your transformation
Wherever you are on the journey to becoming a data-driven organization, Staria is here to guide you. From setting your data vision to embedding real-time performance management, we bring the technology, expertise, and support to help you succeed, every step of the way.
