Establish a Solid Foundation for Advanced Analytics

As advanced analytics and self-serve, augmented analytical tools make their way into the average enterprise, the average organization struggles to quantify the effects and, moreover, to understand and leverage the changes within the business.

Every company is different and the impact of these types of tools will be unique in some ways, but there are many ways in which the introduction of advanced analytics to business users will typically impact your business. It is always wise to establish metrics and to focus on major changes within the organization to be sure you can measure success and capitalize on new tools in as many ways as possible.

But, how do you begin to understand the implications of these changes? Here are a few ideas that will help you understand how augmented analytics can and does affect business results and the culture of the organization.

Do Your Homework: Use every opportunity at industry association conferences and among colleagues to explore how other businesses are researching and measuring their own results. Learn from those who are ahead of you on the curve to save time and frustration in your own research. Read articles on the subject to get ideas and apply the appropriate techniques to your own organization. There isn’t much out there yet in terms of conference topics or expert training. But, the idea is gaining ground as markets and organizations adjust to the idea that data analytics and self-serve access can benefit and change data literacy, as well as the approach to and foundation of business decisions, and the collaborative power and application of analytics within the business structure.

Focus on Culture: When you make major changes within your organization, there is always fallout. Changing access to data, and allowing business users to become more familiar with analytics and more knowledgeable about how to use them in everyday decisions will most certainly change the dynamic within your organization. More education, more knowledge, more access means will encourage balance and involvement. Trying to manage a team or organization, and the flow of information will definitely change in the brave, new world of self-serve analytics. Team members with more knowledge and skill will understandably expect to have more input on decisions and will be equipped with more information. That means they are likely to express more solid, well-conceived opinions everything from objectives to the tasks and skills required to achieve goals. Data sharing will also improve team collaboration and will engender data popularity and reveal power users and those with creative ideas about how to use data. The biggest mistake an enterprise can make is to try to manage in the same old way after introducing new tools and increased data access. An organization that has the vision to implement self-serve, augmented analytics must also have the vision to recognize the impact on the culture and to support team members as they explore these tools and evolve into Citizen Data Scientists. To ignore this transition will frustrate users, restrict the evolution of the corporate culture and impede business progress.

Look to the Data: Explore user adoption, data-driven decisions and the affects of integrated, uniform data access, and data governance. Use the data pool, user base and information about data access and reporting to measure usage, user satisfaction, and the impact on the culture and data integrity and literacy. Survey IT, data analysts and business managers about the optimization of time and resources and use that data to support further expansion of, and investment in, self-serve advanced analytical tools.

Expand Your Vision: Once you and your team have a better understanding of the impact of these tools, and your new data-driven, collaborative culture is on solid ground, you can explore the expansion of these tools to partner networks, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

Data is power and this power is no longer restricted to IT, data scientists or those with advanced skills. New, improved, self-serve, augmented analytics provide guidance and recommendations at every turn so that business users can function with confidence and optimize their own skills and knowledge to add value to the organization. As this industry changes and grows, businesses will gain a more comprehensive understanding of how the tools affect collaboration, business success and the corporate culture. Don’t wait for the formal research. Get started on your own now. If you can focus on the inherent changes and capitalize on the benefits to support the culture and work process changes as they evolve, you will be in a better position to compete in your market and to retain and optimize your human resources and competitive advantage.

Original Post: Establish a Solid Foundation for Advanced Analytics

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