How to Measure Data Team Impact: Metrics That Matter

Find a CEO who has delivered a keynote address at an industry conference or spoken to investors on an earnings call over the past year without highlighting data as the main driver of their organization’s strategy. Spoiler alert: You’ll be searching for a while.  

In 2025, businesses aren’t making decisions based on gut feelings or inspiring stories; they’re looking to quantify their level of confidence with actual statistics. So it makes sense that companies are going to invest heavily into growing the capabilities of their data teams, right?  

Well, not so fast. In the same way that companies rely on the data team to prove that their marketing campaigns are targeting the right audiences or their supply chains are operating as efficiently as possible, leaders also want evidence that their investments in data products and professionals are paying off. So if you’re leading a data team and want a bigger budget to upgrade a data tool or hire a new data engineer, you need to be able to show the ROI of your work.  

Ironically, proving your data team’s value can be one of the most difficult challenges data professionals face. When ROI isn’t straightforward, you have to find ways to measure and communicate your team’s value in something other than revenue or cost savings. Fortunately, there are metrics you can start tracking to make your team’s contributions visible and valued.  

Rethinking how to measure data team performance

Earlier this year at MDS Fest 3.0, Julia Slisz, a customer engineer at Hex, opened her session on how to measure a data team’s impact with an answer she acknowledged might be disappointing for some attendees.  

“Trying to measure ROI directly is a trap,” she said.

What’s the problem? Her experience working with thousands of data teams across the globe led her to three conclusions:  

1. It’s really difficult to measure how much better a decision is compared to one you might have made using different data or no data at all. Without control groups, you’re trying to measure against outcomes that didn’t happen. You don’t know what the result would have been.  
2. Building out an ROI framework that accounts for all the smaller tasks and tools used to translate raw data into insights that then drive outcomes is incredibly complicated. You’re probably going to overlook or not appropriately factor in the valuable intermediary work that data teams perform.  
3. Leaders will likely be skeptical of your ROI calculations. Slisz calls it “measurement theater.” “[Leaders] know that you know that they know that you’re just making the number look good, which makes it hard to believe,” she explained.  

Instead of using more traditional calculations, Slisz encouraged attendees to reframe how they think about ROI to focus more on net promoter scores (NPS). Data teams exist to support other areas of the business. So engaging you, including you in projects, and recommending your team to others across the organization are signals that you provide value.  

“You might feel like you’re doing the best work. You might feel like you’ve hired the most talented data team and are working with the best modern data stack in the world,” she said. “But if your stakeholders aren’t championing you and singing your praises, you have low NPS with them and therefore you have low ROI.”  

Alternative data team metrics to consider

With this new framework for understanding the value of a data team, how can you assess whether teams are effectively using your skills and contributions? Here are a number of metrics to consider:

Ultimately, you’ll know you’re providing value when your colleagues start treating you as a partner in problem-solving. So make the effort to proactively understand their problems rather than just responding to requests.  

Of course, there are many frameworks for understanding the ROI of data analytics. If you’re curious to explore anotehr method, check out our guide to measuring and optimizing the impact of your data.  

Track and show your team’s value with Domo

Your team’s value doesn’t have to depend on playing “measurement theater.” Instead, shift your focus and ask: Are stakeholders using your work? Are they including you in decisions? Are they advocating for your team across the org?

When you start tracking influence, engagement, and satisfaction, you tell a more clear, compelling story about your data team’s influence. You move from being seen as a service center to being a strategic partner.

And Domo is ready to help you get there. With automated workflows, shared data products, and dashboards that measure adoption, Domo gives you the necessary tools to align your team's work with high-value organizational priorities, giving data team leaders ways to easily track and communicate their impact.    

Learn more about how your team can start influencing outcomes. Read our new report for data teams: How the Best Data Teams in the World Are Using Their Insights.