Data Strategy Consulting

The decision layer before any platform build: what data you have, what condition it is in, which platform fits, and what to fund first.
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Definition

What is data strategy consulting?

Data strategy consulting settles the decisions that come before any platform build: what data the business holds, what condition it is in, who owns it, which platform direction fits, and what gets funded first. The output is a sequenced, costed plan that a board can approve and an engineering team can execute without reopening the argument. BD Emerson runs it as a fixed-scope engagement, typically four to eight weeks depending on how many source systems are in scope.

Services

What does a data strategy engagement include?

Data inventory and quality baseline
Governance and ownership
Platform direction
AI readiness
Architecture and integration
Sequencing and business case

Data inventory and quality baseline

We catalog source systems, data flows, owners, and contracts, then measure quality where it matters: completeness, freshness, and duplication in the tables that feed revenue, operations, and reporting. The inventory becomes the fact base every later decision cites.

Governance model and ownership

Named owners per data domain, shared definitions for the metrics executives disagree about, and access rules that match how work actually happens. The model is sized to your organization, so a 200-person company gets a working structure rather than an enterprise council chart.

Platform direction

A written recommendation with the tradeoffs stated. Where workloads point to a lakehouse, we specify what Databricks would carry; where operational decisioning dominates, we assess Palantir against it. We resell neither platform and take no margin from either, so the recommendation follows the workload.

AI readiness of the estate

We score whether your data can support the AI use cases on your roadmap: lineage, labeling, retrieval quality, and the gaps that make model output untrustworthy. Where the answer needs depth, we run a scored AI readiness assessment against NIST AI RMF and fold the findings into the plan.

Architecture and integration plan

A target-state architecture with the integration patterns named: what stays, what moves, what gets retired, and how systems exchange data during the transition. Detailed enough that an engineering lead can estimate against it.

Sequencing and business case

Initiatives ordered by dependency and payback, costed in ranges with the drivers behind each range named, and tied to measures a CFO accepts. The plan states what the first funded quarter delivers.

Our approach

Our approach

01

Inventory what exists

We catalog systems, flows, owners, and contracts, and baseline quality in the tables that matter. Two to three weeks for most mid-market estates.

02

Interview the decision makers

Finance, operations, product, and engineering name the decisions they cannot make today for lack of trusted data. That list defines where the value is.

03

Score against target uses

Each use case gets a readiness score: what exists, what is broken, what is missing. AI use cases are scored against lineage and retrieval requirements.

04

Set the governance model

Owners, definitions, and access rules agreed with the people who will carry them, sized to your headcount rather than to a framework diagram.

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Deciding what to build before you build it?

Speak with BD Emerson about your estate, the decisions stalled on data, and what a defensible plan would cost.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for data strategy

Strategy priced by builders

The team that writes the plan also delivers Databricks and Palantir implementations, so estimates reflect what the work actually costs rather than what a slide suggests.

No platform margin

We resell no platform and take no referral fee, so the direction we recommend follows your workloads and your team, and we will say when the platform you already own is enough.

Governance sized to headcount

Operating models a 150-person company can actually run: named owners and working definitions rather than a council chart copied from an enterprise playbook.

Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

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Our accreditations

At BD Emerson, we believe that our team's extensive certifications not only set us apart but also ensure that we provide the highest level of service to our clients.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is a data strategy?

How long does a data strategy engagement take?

What does data strategy consulting cost?

Should we pick a platform before or after the strategy?

How does this relate to an AI readiness assessment?

What deliverables do we receive?

Who needs to be involved from our side?

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