5 ways to improve a data strategy
76% of UK companies are planning a big data or data analytics project within the next 12 months, according to recent research carried out by MHR Analytics. Yet many of these projects could be doomed to fail if data from Gartner’s business intelligence and data analytics report is anything to go by.
According to the research firm, projects fail because they aren’t completed within budget or on schedule, or because they fail to deliver the features and benefits that are optimistically agreed on at their outset.
However, it is clear that data analytics is moving higher up on the business agenda, with nearly nine in 10 (88%) of C-Suite executives agreeing that data analytics and business intelligence will be crucial to the future of their business, according to MHR Analytics new report Plotting the data journey in the boardroom.
So, how can organisations unlock the power of data?
Ideally, big data projects need to be part of a company-wide strategy if they are going to fulfil their potential. A new study, plotting the data journey in the boardroom, lays out a new business intelligence maturity model representing the five distinct stages of the data analytics path to success.
Worryingly, when MHR Analytics asked C level executives to plot their course on the data journey, just a third of companies had reached the transformative level, while a significant minority are still at the very beginning of their data maturity journey and around a fifth are only beginning to develop a Standard-Led approach.
Here are five ways to ensure that your business can get the most value out of their data strategy.
Gain senior buy-in
One of the challenges for organisations is a lack of big data expertise at board level, so it is important to have employees who are passionate and skilled in exploring data and content and who can translate this to the boardroom.
This will help to gain senior buy-in and in turn, promote cross divisional integration. If the CEO is seen to sponsor the programme, or if the role of Chief Data Officer has been established, then the programme is more likely to succeed.
To do this, employees should demonstrate the potential for competitive advantage in market share, revenue growth and efficiencies, have the confidence to make decisions that are accurate and a true representation of the data, and be able to deal with economic change and minimise any change outside the control of the organisation.
