Every business is a data business And while this aphorism has been around for some time, what does this actually mean to enterprise stakeholders? What should key decision makers be valuing and excited about as they start to invest in analytics tools and ML/AI?
Here’s what we think are the most important aspects to embrace when it comes to data and enterprise.
Appreciation for Opportunity
Yes, it merits restating. Every business is a data business. No matter what industry your enterprise exists within, it has collected diverse sets of raw data over time. The opportunity exists on many levels:. What do you want to gain insights on? How is your data segmented? How many possibilities are there to find relevant data insights that match your business objectives? How many new goals and ideas are you willing to invest effort behind? Are your resources in place to set new (but possibly high ROI) goals and see them through? The bottom line: data is transformative, the ‘how’ of transforming is limitless, therefore the more focused you are on specific goals, the more data can work for you.
Accepting the Inherent Challenges of Data
Identifying game-changing insights from data mining isn’t a magic trick. Its very nature is iterative and exploratory. This appreciation of the labour, diligence and time spent on the fundamentals of getting the data right will not immediately offer ROI, but it’s critical to the maturity of an organisation. The process takes stock of how you’ve done business and what the results have been across many platforms, customer touchpoints, and metrics that are important for your business . This stock-taking is invaluable to the cultural foundation of your enterprise. It allows you to see where you’ve excelled and where you need more nuts and bolts, or elbow grease in the system. It also allows enterprises to see where more risks can be taken and which ones should be taken first according to your business objectives and capabilities. As enterprise stakeholders, an appreciation for the nature of data and the challenges it throws at you is needed to reap long-term benefits.
The Right Set Of Skills
Hiring and retaining talent is of paramount importance for long-term success. Agility and flexibility in tooling (both, the tools, and the mechanic’s skillset) of all kinds is absolutely critical. Retaining and growing data talent must be centered on finding people who are not only technically sound but well aware of best practices in development, operations and open source. The most productive teams build response systems at every level of data mining. Having an understanding of your data from various sources, at all levels of ingestion allows for better challenge management, as new bumps in the road emerge, and more diverse insights.
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