Assessing and Defining an Analytics Strategy

An analytics strategy must start with a cultural shift in how data is perceived.  Companies cannot simply acquire reporting tools, hire data scientists, store various formats of data and expect to be a data driven organization.  Data must be viewed, treated and handled like a tangible asset.  An asset to be leveraged to increase profitability, drive efficiency and provide confidence when making decisions.

As highlighted in our introductory blog Big Data, Analytics and Defining Strategy, in many cases there is a lack of clear strategy and direction with Analytics projects.  The digital transformation era is forcing change and creating unprecedented disruption of business models and displacement of legacy leaders.  Organizations must adapt and transform.  Growth, profitability and long-term success are dependent on embracing this change.

PARC starts the Analytics journey with a pre-kickoff, or phase 0.  In this phase, we are attempting to inform, assess, develop and align the analytics strategy across the organization.  There are three main work streams or deliverables, which are:

• Corporate Analytics Strategy
• Current State BI/Analytics Capabilities & Maturity Assessment
• Analytics Education

Each of the above work streams can be staffed by PARC, or if available internally the customer can lead with PARC providing guidance and oversight.  In some cases, the deliverables associated with the work stream may already exist and minor time would be required to complete.

Corporate Analytics Strategy

This work stream is focused on understanding and building the Analytics strategy including digital transformation and vision for leveraging data across the organization.  Building a solid foundation that provides guide rails for the entire organization is crucial.

Current State BI/Analytics Capabilities & Maturity Assessment

This work stream will assess the current reporting and analytics landscape across functional and technical units.  It will delve into a detail review of current reporting capabilities, including inventory of tools, reporting quality and certification, on-going projects and future needs by business unit/function.  A detail review of current Enterprise Data Management functions will be completed, assessing overall data governance.  A maturity model will provide current state and will assist in defining a roadmap.

Analytics Education

The intent of this work stream is to educate the business and technical teams on the terms and meaning of Advanced Analytics.  There are vast amounts of articles and definitions that need to be discerned by industry and teams, both functional and technical.  This work stream will provide informational sessions on various topics including types of analytics, possible use cases, required skill sets, various tools and technologies among many other topics.  This will inform and educate your teams so everyone is speaking the same language.

The core fundamentals of business have not changed.  You are still required to make smart business decisions, hire and retain top talent, improve operational processes, innovate, invest and all the other competencies required to be successful.  But, advances in technologies have caused an inflection point, creating a new paradigm in which data is becoming an asset that cannot be ignored and can no longer be leveraged only for descriptive, backward looking reports.  Properly setting the correct course and aligning the entire organization are the critical first steps in your analytics journey.