Data is created at every single swipe, search, click, share, and stream, increasing the demand for big data analytics globally. A recent research study reports that the Global Big Data Analytics Market is expected to reach US$ 105.08 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 12.3% throughout the forecast period from 2019 to 2027. The survey found that around 40 billion dollars are being spent annually by companies all around the globe on big data analytics and technologies. And yet, many companies still haven’t created a proper data culture and are not competing effectively on data and analytics
Organizations wanted to become “data-driven” for over the past decade or so. Being data-driven takes more than just having great technology, quality data, and even expertise, but also requires internal processes and culture that ensures that data is driving decisions. In some organizations, employees might be taking the decisions first, then they look for data to back them up, such organizations are just bluffing that they are data-driven.
The traditional way of top-down decision making and the culture of weekly reports and pre-configured dashboards prevents using data to its fullest advantage.
Here are some symptoms to check whether your organization is truly data-driven, if not, then the solutions to address them:
Decisions based on average
Usually, organizations, implement a standard, with an optimal figure based on averages. This can have harmful consequences as a whole, albeit it is easy.
For instance, in an organization as a standard policy, 30 days is set as an optimal time to pay invoices. Managers found that some suppliers impose a penalty after 25 days of non-payment, while other suppliers dint require payment before 45 days. As a result, some suppliers were unhappy and on the other hand, the business was paying invoices earlier than necessary. This caused huge losses before this issue escalated up the chain to be addressed.
It is tempting to conclude that the organization may be using data for decisions, but if decisions are aggregate driven, then the data cannot give the full picture. It can lead to a loss in the relationship and in revenue as above.
Every team with own version of the truth
This is quite common when each team have different data silos. So they look into their own piece of data and disagree with other decisions.
The inevitable solution to this is to make data common for everyone, uniform throughout the organization. It is wise to count on outcomes rather than ownership as data is important to guide the decisions and strategy.
Decisions precede Data
It is a common human tendency to trust our experience and instincts in decision making and then look for data to justify. But at the unprecedented times, like the recent COVID-19 crisis, it is wise to lean entirely on data to uncover insights and opportunities. Only then can the leader’s experience be applied to these insights to decide the right course.
Let the idea start first with the data, and not with the leader.
Data holds tremendous potential and organizations need a cultural shift on making Data widely available uniformly for all employees and they must be empowered to act on data to take quick actions. And only on capitalizing on these can an organization be called truly data-driven.
