Data analytics is prolific in today’s world. Organizations of all scopes and sizes are using it to fuel growth. But how can it work for your own enterprise? These are some of the basics of driving growth faster through data analytics.
Understand the Facts
A lot of people automatically equate data with the truth. This isn’t exactly reality. While data gives us a clear path to understanding facts, it’s important to understand there’s a difference between these two concepts.
This idea is masterfully explained by Sudheesh Nair, CEO of ThoughtSpot, in an interview with IT World: “Data is the raw material which can be made to look like fact if you are smart.” Data can be used in many ways. Just because it appears to say something doesn’t mean that thing is the truth. While this sounds simplistic, it’s actually a distinction many people fail to make when utilizing their data.
How does understanding facts lead to data-driven growth? It’s all about taking the biases out of decision making. Artificial Intelligence in data analytics is helping with this movement, as it doesn’t have a vested stake in outcomes. Humans will always hold biases, no matter how hard the try to overcome them. Utilizing objective tools can help your organization make optimal choices. Data literacy is also key here—it’s crucial to provide employees the training and context they need to understand what the data is telling them.
Data Analytics
Find Insights Invisible to Humans
Some of the most valuable information is completely invisible to humans. Sometimes humans are incapable of detecting discrete patterns hidden within data sets, or it would simply take too many hours to realistically do so. If you want to achieve faster growth for your business, however, you need to identify these insights.
This is another area where AI is making growth possible in ways that were previously unachievable. It’s capable of looking at data completely differently than us. Spotting these unseen trends can catapult your organization in ways you never could have known on your own. It’s wise to go with data analytics software that incorporates artificial intelligence into its system to uncover significant patterns, anomalies and relationships quickly.
Stay Adaptable
A modern company can’t afford to rest on its laurels. As technology continues to advance, and becomes more accessible, new players can disrupt industries. This is an important thing to keep in mind for all organizations.
One study conducted by Gallup found over 70 percent of B2B customers are thinking of switching to a different product provider. You need to stay ahead of the competition by constantly improving what you offer, whether it’s to other businesses, consumers, or any other clients. Data can help you do this by giving you a clearer picture of what is and isn’t working.
Time Is of the Essence
The old way of using data was necessary to business but provided nowhere near the benefits that can be obtained today. What’s meant by the “old way” of data analytics? The process of sending requests to the data team, waiting, receiving static reports from legacy BI tools, revising the request, and going on like this until you can get an answer. This inefficient method often took weeks, or longer, to get anything done, regardless of the query.
Organizations today don’t have that kind of time to wait around for answers. In order to grow fast enough to stay ahead of competitors, you need to have a way to get actionable insights in substantially less time.
Modern data analytics tools are offering this ability through improved usability in dashboards, visualizations, and ad hoc requests. Putting the powerof data into the hand of more employees allows them to make decisions based on facts. All aspects of operations can be improved through data. It’s just a matter of asking the right questions and allowing employees the ability to make those discoveries. This will allow your enterprise to grow much faster than if all data inquiries need to run through the same limited pipeline.
Data analytics is opening new doors for organizations that can use it effectively. Consider how all these ways you can boost growth with data.
