The relentless drive to use data to make smarter business decisions differentiates winning companies from those that continue to struggle. Although many organizations need help implementing data-driven solutions and analytics, with persistence and resilience, their efforts deliver valuable results over time.
It doesn’t help that data-driven tasks are getting harder. Businesses today encounter vast amounts of new types and sources of data, including sensor data, signals, text, and images. It has recently been argued that most new data is unstructured, meaning it cannot be easily captured or quantified.
Business leaders increasingly need to recognize that capturing and analyzing data is vital for their whole organizations. Data crosses traditional organizational boundaries and provides far-reaching benefits for most, if not all, departments. Even though most businesses recognize the advantages and claim to lead data-driven companies, only a much smaller proportion do so. So how do you recognize the difference?
What is a data-driven company?
A data-driven company has created a framework and culture in which data is valued and effectively used for decision-making across the organization — from marketing to product development to human resources. It can capture and use relevant data about its business and markets to make informed business decisions.
The data itself is of little value if nothing is done with it. Data-driven solutions help companies add value through data analytics that generate business insights, solve challenges, or improve processes. The right data in the hands of business leaders enables them to make informed decisions that improve business performance, streamline operations, and strengthen customer relationships.
The opposite of a data-driven process is making decisions based solely on speculation. For data-driven business leaders, listening to their gut may be part of their decision-making process, but they only act based on the data.
What steps can companies take?
Becoming a data-driven organization requires time. What steps can organizations and leaders take to accelerate this effort? Our experience in software consulting tells us that data-driven organizations consistently exhibit qualities that distinguish them from their contemporaries. We at Itirra help data-driven companies consistently implement the following driving principles:
Think different
Data-driven solutions require a different mindset. Organizations must be willing to think differently. There is no shortage of analytical algorithms, but they must be accompanied by critical thinking, human judgment, and an eye for creative innovation.
all thin client users from the dangerous consequences of malware.
Don't get lost collecting data
Organizations are often so invested in architectural and technical work that the value of data is overlooked. Rather than bringing all data into one central source, identify the key questions you need to ask and the data that will provide the answers. You can then focus on relevant datasets and iterative insights to drive business answers over time. It’s very beneficial to understand business priorities, metrics, and their likely impact. A business-oriented mindset will let data-driven solutions and analytics drive insights and productivity.
Fail fast, learn faster
Data-driven leaders understand that everyone learns through experience, which often involves trial and error. Failure can form the strongest foundation for innovation. Organizations that are prepared for faster iterative learning – to fail fast, learn faster – will gain insight and competitive advantage ahead of their competitors.
Let business drive technology
Understanding what businesses need to improve their decision-making and customer experience is essential. Knowing the basics is often critical to making the right decisions with more complex insights. Let the business side define the desired goals, domains, and expected potential impact so that IT can apply the right technology.
Supplement data with context
If your reports and dashboards only demonstrate what happened but don’t examine the cause or possible action, are they driving expected value? A great data scientist is someone who understands and predicts user behavior. Their reports and dashboards are intuitively designed to suit the business context and the need to examine and understand key factors that influence the next steps.
Focus on the long term
The data journey is a transformational effort that unfolds over time. Becoming data-driven is a lengthy process. Although perfection is difficult to achieve, data-driven companies must recognize that success comes through iteration. It will grow and spread. Successful organizations look at the long-term as well as the short-term goals.
More is not necessarily better
While several metrics may be accurate and insightful, they may not be relevant to business decisions or strategy. Instead, they take up space and often create confusion from a consumer’s perspective. Not all data has the same value or impact on your business, and it is not necessary to display all metrics in a report or dashboard. The business and data sides must understand the scope and be aligned to realize their total value.
Start slow to grow big
Many organizations are focused on the bottom line, waiting for their data strategist to organize all data into a repository, meaning it will take longer for business and IT to see the value of their efforts. Instead of focusing on a specific business domain and desired outcome, you can start with a relevant dataset to get the initial value. Teams become more dynamic when everyone can perceive the value of data-driven solutions, leading to better decisions and improved data.
Conclusion
To remain competitive in the increasingly data-saturated world of the 21st century, data-driven companies must learn from the experience of their predecessors. They must actively work to avoid past failures and learn from thriving companies. Perhaps more than ever, it is crucial to be a data-driven organization when data, science, and facts are being challenged by many.
As you improve your company’s data-driven goals, remember to move forward with the company and keep your team from being bogged down with data or technology. Minor improvements can deliver greater value, and iterations can show tremendous results in terms of team engagement and customer satisfaction.
At Itirra, we provide companies with customized solutions and opportunities to explore potential improvements to support their business goals. For a personalized recommendation based on your unique business model, don’t hesitate to get in touch or schedule a meeting with me.