The value of data depends on whether enterprise IT and business units can leverage appropriate tools to transform it into insights. Before data engineers and AI algorithms step in, enterprises must first consolidate data into an environment where it can be processed.

Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) processes migrate data from disparate sources to a new location, such as a data warehouse, where enterprises can begin creating value. Many companies have come to view this data pipeline as a critical innovation market and have built product strategies around it.

However, ETL is just one of many integration tools. Increasingly, enterprises are demanding tools and services that connect platforms, data, and departments in specific ways. As the industry shifts toward public cloud, intelligent applications, and edge computing, momentum is building behind microservices—what Docker CEO Steve Singh calls "technology Lego blocks." Singh shared these views at the Talend Connect conference in New York on Wednesday.

Singh noted that with 85% of IT budgets already locked in before the start of the fiscal year, CIOs face a daunting task: driving innovation while reducing reliance on legacy infrastructure.

Technology leaders like Talend CIO Eric Johnson are in a demanding role that changes daily. But by learning to bridge the gap between business and technology, and by communicating a future vision to customers, effective bottom-up technological change becomes possible.

Customers buy not only for current needs

Data warehouses have existed for years and are often seen as outdated, dull technology. But Johnson told CIO Dive at Talend Connect that new technologies are radically transforming data warehouses and how they are managed. It is a field under constant disruption, with innovation speed and market scale far exceeding many traditional technology areas.

However, changing data management strategy is like steering the Titanic—it requires balancing a vast array of people, processes, and technology—which Johnson ranks in that order of importance. Without people who are prioritized, cared for, and developed, it is difficult to steer effectively; in many cases, technology is actually the easiest part to handle.

Given the rapid pace of innovation, being agile enough to embrace new technologies and migrate business to new systems is crucial. Johnson believes that in the cloud and data space, the core lies in improving business efficiency and streamlining, while finding a common platform for people to collaborate and innovate.

"I think for us, the cloud strategy, and the hybrid cloud strategy—letting people progress on their cloud journey at a pace they are comfortable with—really resonates with customers," Johnson said.

Many enterprises remain hesitant about fully moving to the cloud, which forces vendors to carve out paths that let customers experiment at their own comfort level.

Take TD Bank, for example, which used Talend technology to migrate from messy data to Hadoop clusters, then evolve to a data lake, and ultimately free information from a "data prison" into an "everything-as-a-service" system. Joe DosSantos, VP of Enterprise Information Management at TD Bank, shared this case at Talend Connect.

DosSantos said the bank containerized and modernized its environment, and this portability means that when the company decides to move to the cloud, it can do so at lower cost and on a faster timeline.

Johnson pointed out that customers buy not only what vendors currently offer, but also products aligned with the future direction of the industry and technology. By investing in hybrid and multi-cloud management, containerization, serverless computing, and data management—even while many enterprises are still in the early stages of cloud adoption—Johnson and Talend are betting on the future.

Effective CIOs communicate with customers

The energy evident in conversations around data shows that the business and technology sides are increasingly speaking the same language.

Johnson believes that as business leaders become better technologists and understand the value of data, their relationships with CIOs and IT departments are more efficient and productive than ever before.

Talend is not Johnson's first CIO role. The veteran IT executive joined Talend in January, having previously served as SVP and CIO at DocuSign, and SVP and CIO at Informatica. The CIO role has changed dramatically compared to a decade ago.

Responsibilities now extend beyond internal digital infrastructure. "Today's CIO is more externally customer-facing than ever before, and so is the CTO," he said.

Johnson believes a modern, progressive CIO is a business person who understands technology and knows how to leverage it to achieve business outcomes. Communicating the need for new technology can be difficult; as a CIO, telling new customers outright what ETL solution they need serves neither party well in the long run.

This means "starting with the end in mind"—what challenges does the business face? What value do they hope to derive from their data, or what questions do they want to answer?—and then working forward from there, Johnson said. Once the fundamental goals are clear, customers and vendors can determine what data is needed, where it resides, and how to access it. Without that foundation, understanding what data queries to run or which machine learning algorithms to use is nearly impossible.

As CIO of a technology company, many of the customers Johnson engages with are themselves IT leaders. Building industry relationships and acting as a knowledge conduit is crucial for these peers, he added.