The new innovation denomination

Advanced analytics are providing organizations the ability to stay agile in a world of flux, a priceless competitive edge never before enjoyed. Perhaps more so than at any point in corporate history, organizations are facing up to the reality of increasingly intense competition in a burgeoning global marketplace. As new and emerging markets enter the mix from disparate parts of the globe, companies are turning to integrated, intelligent solutions to demystify complexity and remain at the vanguard of their industry.

Data is the new denomination of this competitive advantage, and a clutch of companies are leveraging information to the fullest. In the process, they are building a pervasive analytics culture with a clear vision and based off strong capabilities. Across industries, we are witnessing advanced analytics being deeply embedded in the DNA of market leaders, and the results of this are seen in radically lower costs, vastly better customer experiences and new-age business models that redefine the norm.

In a survey conducted by Bain & Co., it was seen that 7 out of 10 companies have a clear strategy for embedding data analytics and are investing heavily in it, but only 5% make it their top priority, indicating that there are still some ways to go for data analytics to be fully adopted.

Perhaps pertinently, organizations haven’t fully integrated man and machine even though they are two key cogs of the advanced analytics machinery. There is a greater need for man and machine to dovetail as decisive leadership becomes ever more critical in the digital age. True organizational change cannot occur without effective leadership, and this is equally true for organizations undergoing an analytics-enabled transition.

Weaving new-age advanced analytics into the organizational tapestry requires a new-age leader capable of envisioning a better future born from change and all it entails. This calls for exceptional organizational IQ as we forge new ways of doing business and make the most of perhaps the most valuable asset since oil, namely data. Crude and unrefined, it holds the potential to up-end conventional wisdom as we know it, redefining the way we make sense of the world around us.

One common fallacy is that the key to advanced analytics is data science. It’s not, it’s data engineering. In most analytics use case development, engineering takes 4-5 times the effort and lapsed that data science does even as data science is being rapidly automated. So in my view, data engineering holds the key to advanced analytics.