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I was recently in a client meeting (regional bank in Kansas City) and was asked a question by one of the business stakeholders: What do they need to do in order to get competitive advantage from all these new technologies and data sources (thanks Barb)? Here is the answer that I gave the client:
1. You need an agile data platform that doesn't hinder business growth. The amount and variety of data has grown dramatically over the past couple of years, and to be honest, we aren't sure where and when it will end. Consequently you need a data platform that is extensible and scalable for integrating data sources that we may not have even imagined yet. Bottom-line: you data platform should not limit or hinder the types of business questions your business users want to ask and answer.
2. Need a management attitude to treat data as an asset to be cultivated, not as a liability to be minimized. Not only are you looking to retain your existing data, but you are looking to strengthen that data asset through data cleansing and data enrichment activities (e.g., looking at new sources of data, deriving more metrics out of your existing data).
3. Need a management commitment to "monetize" that data asset through more accurate, more timely, more frequent, more refined decision making. Management needs to look to "weave" data and insights-driven decision-making into the very fabric of the organization. That probably has consequences on the incentive side of the operations as much as it has consequences on the technology side.
4. Link your data and analytics efforts to your key business initiatives. Spend the time to understand where and how new data sources and advanced analytics can support, or super-charge, their key business initiatives.
A lot of this is not new guidance. Heck, it's what we've been telling businesses for years now in regards to successful data warehousing and business intelligence. And it's even more appropriate now given the sudden explosion of new data sources and new enabling analytic platforms and capabilities.
