Rashmi Toshniwal, Solutions Consulting Tableau Salesforce believes that data engagement should be as simple as checking your fitness numbers on a smartphone app
In an exclusive conversation with ET Edge Insights, Rashmi Toshniwal, Solutions Consulting Tableau Salesforce, discusses her role and the significance of a data-driven mindset in today’s digital landscape.
Excerpts
Could you briefly describe your job title and provide an overview of your responsibilities in your current role?
I am a member of Tableau’s pre-sales and solution consulting team, operating within the Salesforce ecosystem. Our role is both, straightforward and intricate. We actively engage with our customers, attentively listening to their concerns and difficulties. Our mission is to translate these issues into effective technological solutions. While this might sound simple, it comes with its unique set of challenges and complexities. Our responsibilities extend beyond the moment a client selects our technology; in fact, that’s where our true work begins. We are committed to ensuring our clients’ success, assisting them in adopting our solutions, fostering their growth, and ultimately helping them achieve their strategic objectives when they decide to embrace new technology and embark on a transformative journey. In essence, our purpose revolves around facilitating this process.
How important is a data-driven mindset for your role and for organisations in general?
In today’s digital age, we are surrounded by data-driven applications, often using numerous apps on our mobile devices. Whether tracking our steps, consulting a doctor, or managing family activities, data is omnipresent. This data-centricity extends to our professional lives, particularly in corporate organisations. We are transitioning from a time when data was isolated and complex to an era where it’s easily accessible and comprehensible.
Our mission is to ensure that people can interact with data as effortlessly as they check their fitness stats on a mobile app. Why shouldn’t accessing sales figures be as seamless as tracking your steps? That’s the analogy I would like to emphasise.
Discussing the importance of data and its role in creating a data-driven culture in your organisation, could you briefly outline the specific processes or strategies you use to achieve this?
Several challenges hinder the development of a data culture, including issues related to access, skillsets, complexity, and technology. Access to the right data at the right time is a common hurdle, often compounded by the need for specific skills to interpret data and complexities in technology. Overcoming these challenges requires addressing these factors to ensure timely and purposeful data utilisation. In organisations like Salesforce and Tableau, a data-driven culture is fostered by practicing what they preach. From top to bottom, everyone has access to the same data, with appropriate security and permissions in place. Skillset requirements for data understanding are simplified, much like using a fitness tracker. This simplification is essential in the professional world, where data accessibility should be effortless. Furthermore, establishing a data culture is not solely a technological or process-related issue; it also involves organisational change management and shifting mindsets.
How do you ensure data security and privacy, particularly in Salesforce, and what immediate actions are taken in case of a data breach?
While I may not be a security and compliance expert, I can emphasise that our commitment to data security is longstanding. Since 1999, for over 23 years, we’ve been at the forefront of assuring organisations that their data is secure, even when residing in the cloud. We maintain robust security and privacy policies, particularly because we handle data for numerous customers, each with their own set of clients. Our practices are designed to be highly stringent, ensuring data security and privacy. Importantly, our structure is such that we don’t have access to our customers’ data, further enhancing security and privacy.
How do you manage data across sectors in Salesforce, and what technologies do you foresee as critical for your business in the future?
We assist customers across various industries, such as finance, telecom, retail, and pharma, in harnessing the power of data. This involves helping them identify critical insights from their data, understand past events, make informed decisions in the present, and predict future trends. We employ technologies to streamline data organisation and quality management. Most importantly, we ensure data accessibility at the point of work, akin to checking fitness stats while working out. Whether it’s within Salesforce or other applications, our goal is to provide data where our customers need it. Plus, as a tech company, we extensively use our own tools, including Tableau, to enhance our processes and solutions.
