Data Teams <> Service Desks

On my social media feeds I've been seeing a lot of commentary about data teams working as service desks, and how that is an ineffective use of that group. The message is a compelling one. Certainly, no one likes the idea of being equated to some kind of automaton, mechanically processing tickets. Instead, data teams need to position themselves as business partners, nay business equals. So let's try that out...

Tomorrow I tell my team to put those work requests down. I announce to our stakeholders that we are going to only prioritize and work projects that we deem as valuable. The skills of these individuals will no longer be expended on your ad hoc whims. Bring us to the table to architect and build business solutions.

Great! Now we are truly living to our full potential. Adding value to the business.

Meanwhile, a system upgrade breaks a downstream dashboard that the CFO uses. An older sales executive needs data for an important project they are presenting on. A problem has been discovered in the billing system and the compliance team needs to analyze the extent of the issue. The data team is busy doing value add work elsewhere, so who do these people go to now?

They might learn to be more self-reliant for data and train up on how to do these things themselves...yeah, no, I doubt that too. More likely solution: They hire a data analyst to help them with these things. Wait a minute...

My point is not to disagree with the premise that data teams should strive to function less like a help desk. I'm not super thrilled with that model of work either. These individuals definitely have the capability to add value more directly, given the opportunity. The other side of the equation, though, is that they are also the ones that have the technical skills that others in the business lack. And until those skills become prerequisites for those other business functions, they will continue to rely on those in the data team to fill that skill gap.