Becoming more Data Driven 2022 Style.....

90% of UK companies say success depends on……..? (I’ll come back to this at the end)

Happy July everyone, I hope you’ve been enjoying the warmer weather as much as me?

I was keen to jump on and express some of my recent findings around Data and how it can drive insight to almost any willing organisation. I say willing as some are perfectly comfortable where they are and that’s fine but being ahead of the game & having information to make accurate decisions cannot be a bad thing.

When discussing pain points with customers and friends across various markets, I hear a similar message. ‘Daniel, we want our Data to drive insight at all levels’ or ‘Daniel, we’re operational with our Data and that’s about as far as it goes’

We’re aware that poor data or processes can lead to guess work or even incorrect actions being taken which essentially will lead to a negative impact on organisations.

Companies in 2022 more than ever need robust, real-time data and insights to drive business transformation and support decision making. The role of data is to support facts and empower employees to improve their focus, strategy and even efficiency. Having that strategy in place allows you to analyse your market at ease and identify trends where changes are required.

When I first started working in Data & Analytics, there was a real focus on capturing quality data, and feeding that into a Data Warehouse/ Data Lake.?Now, what I often hear is that companies have vast amounts of data on multiple systems that has become overwhelming and they are looking at simple ways of presenting it.

Below is one of our high-level approaches that we use with of our existing accounts:

1.??????Data Maturity – Where are you? Why are you looking to become Data Driven? How will this impact your organisation if done correctly? This should trigger questions which will help provide clarity. ?Whether it’s a University/ NHS Trust / Housing Association – these types of establishments will be capturing vast data. This initial steppingstone will be to evaluate an organisations level of data capability & highlight areas for focus and Improvement.

2.??????Objectives/ Vision – What do you want to be able to do? Where would you like to get to? What do the users want? Identifying this will give you a clear goal and enable you to prioritise. Many companies across public and private organisations have installed KPI’s, however some of those are unmeasurable so ensure you’ve established KPI’s which are first achievable and secondly measurable!

3.??????Thirdly - How to arrive at your destination……our recommendation has always been to think big, start small. Kick off with a Discovery phase (The problem you want to address) The Discovery piece will close in on those outcomes you require. From here you’ve qualified yourself to a pilot. For any initial pilot we recommend limiting the scope which ensure we can reduce any early complexity. In the Pilot we can start to look at your process from – bringing in data from the source, getting it into a format that is ready for reporting, enriching it with meta data and then finally presenting it in power BI as interactive dashboards.

Additionally, to the above its worth considering your existing data capabilities. Are there gaps you need to plug? Do you have the skills and experience to maximise outcomes before progressing?

Having that focus on insights and using Data as a tool does require more than technology though, it requires a shift in mindset from organisations leaders all the way through to end users. This will play a significant role in the future of decision making.

Finally remember you’re not alone in undertaking the challenge. Organisations around the globe share your struggles and aspirations. Those that have succeeded have done so with the appropriate guidance, support, attention, staying flexible to changing needs, investing in the correct technology and developing a strong focus on the people that define the organisation’s culture.

Oh and the answer at the top of my blog - 90% of UK companies say success depends on Data-Driven decisions made by frontline employees ??

https://www.civica.com/en-us/capabilities/data-analytics-insights/