The benefits of cultivating a data-driven organisation

In a data-led world, every organisation, regardless of its size, is sitting on a vast amount of data. Unfortunately, most companies are not making the most of this information – a survey by New Vantage by the venerated, Thomas H. Davenport, and his colleague, Randy Bean, found that only 49% are driving innovation with data, and less than 25% had forged a data culture to become data-driven organisations. These businesses are missing out on the numerous business benefits from today’s data-rich business landscape.

The biggest advantage of becoming a data-driven organisation is knowledge to fuel well-informed decision making. Having the right insights about the company and the market it’s operating in can help improve performance and efficiency, get a competitive advantage vis-à-vis competitors and drive innovation. This can only be done in a cost-efficient way by using the right data, in the right way, as it can provide the concrete evidence needed to guide a business, rather than having to rely on intuition or guesswork.

The ideal data-drive scenario and how to get there

Becoming data-driven is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible. Many businesses have made that journey to be data-driven, but still have plenty more opportunities to explore. It is a complete business mindset shift and a change in ways of running a business that is not easy for business leaders. However, it’s far from impossible.

Creating or evolving into a data-driven company requires a comprehensive and strategic approach that includes cultural, technological and organisational changes. Before taking any action around data, businesses should define clear objectives – for example, what questions do you need the data to answer, and develop a data strategy that will specify how data will be collected, stored, processed and used to support these objectives.

These two first steps will help build a solid data culture across the whole organisation, empowering all employees to use data in their decision-making processes. They will also help identify what type of data infrastructure the business best fits the company’s needs, how to optimise data collection and ensure data quality in the process.

Building a data fabric

Once a data strategy has been agreed on, the next step is to build a data fabric that aligns with said strategy. Data fabric refers to a machine-enabled data integration architecture that utilizes metadata assets to unify, integrate, and govern disparate data environments. Having a data fabric allows for data-centric decision-making across an organisation. This means that instead of having separate data platforms for HR, supply chains, customers and internal data, all will be united under one roof. By unifying all data platforms, data fabrics make digital transformation and automation happen faster and easier.  

Building a data fabric requires a good balance of technology and tools. It requires companies to define their objectives and requirements based on their current data landscape – data already available, storage places and data governance practices, for instance. Technology is also key to build a data fabric: from data visualisation platforms to data catalogue solutions, the right technology should align with your objectives.

Prioritising data literacy among employees

While using technology to create a data fabric and make the most of the available data is essential, it will be meaningless if your workforce doesn't have the skills and knowledge to use it effectively.  It is just as important to educate and train your IT and data analytics staff in data literacy as employees in other business functions to ensure that everyone is getting the most value from their tools.

But what exactly is data literacy? According to MIT, it's the ability to read, work with, analyse and communicate with data. It's a skill that empowers all levels of workers to ask the right questions about data and machines, build knowledge, make decisions, and communicate meaning to others. In an increasingly digital world, these skills will play an important role in a growing number of disciplines.

Not only does improved data literacy has a demonstratable financial benefit, but it will also be career booster soon, as Qlik’s research found 85% of executives believe it will become as vital in the future as the ability to use a computer is today. A win-win for both employee and employer.

A worthy investment

Becoming a data-driven organisation certainly requires a significant investment in terms of time and resources, but it is a sacrifice that will support companies’ efforts to stay competitive in their sectors and keep adapting to innovation. Ensuring employees are a central part of the digital transformation journey by prioritising their data literacy, is an essential part of the transformation process. Despite any potential growing pains, becoming a data-driven business is a process that, when complete, will be beneficial for all stakeholders alike.