As the great management expert W. Edwards Deming once said, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” Obviously, data is all the rage today; it’s what makes the flashiest technology of our era, artificial intelligence (AI), tick. But not all data—and not all organizations with data—are created equal. Even in an age where data is everything, many successful businesses run almost exclusively on qualitative experience and intuition, or what Deming would dismiss as “opinion.”
In this article, we’ll explore data maturity—specifically, what that journey looks like and all it entails. What does it take to make data a differentiator for your business? What are the most common pitfalls on the path to data maturity?
In many ways, becoming data mature is like scaling a mountain, so together, let’s go climbing. We’ll start at our home base, Beginner’s Base Camp.
LOOKING UP: “BEGINNER’S BASE CAMP”
Now, Deming’s quote is a little too reductive. Many executives are right to bristle at it. The reality is that data doesn’t replace experience and intuition. Data is a digital representation of real-world events, and when combined with experience and automation, it can be transformative. Indeed, companies that have turned data into a competitive advantage haven’t replaced experience, they’ve augmented it.
But if data’s so great, why did a recent Cisco report find almost 60% of organizations worldwide are data “laggards” or “followers” compared to “pacesetters?” The reality is that mastering data is a lengthy, challenging, unsteady journey. It’s easy for many leaders to prioritize other things or dismiss the idea that data will supply enough value to outweigh the cost and time it takes to master.
Some organizations and executives at Beginner’s Base Camp feel that what they have is enough. After all, all organizations have and get some value from data—but often it’s not moving the needle and sometimes acts as a burden rather than an advantage. Most often, data at these organizations is scattered and inaccessible: it’s trapped in business applications, PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, manufacturing machines, the heads of superstar salespeople, and other decentralized sources. No KPIs are tracked, and even if they were, most people in the organization don’t or can’t see them. This isn’t the intent, obviously, but is still the situation, because at these companies a method of disseminating actionable, insightful data exists but hasn’t been used.
REACHING “PROFICIENCY POINT”
So how can we leave Beginner’s Base Camp? It starts, above all, by getting serious about data. Especially early, there are plenty of opportunities to give up. Data, talent, software, and hardware is expensive; teams and leaders will have doubts; other priorities will cry for attention; and so on. But you must believe it’s worth it, that doing the work now will pay off.
After that, it’s time to establish a central hub of data expertise. You need someone to “own” data; it’s hard to say you’re serious about data without having made any serious investments to build a team and centralize data operations. A small team is ideal, but even one or two people go a long way. This hub will be the vanguard, making progress with quick wins and demonstrating immediate value. They’re also the person or people who will lay the foundation of your data architecture. At least one of them must be an experienced data engineer or data architect. They’ll decide the right tools to invest in, devise scalable processes, and will ensure costs don’t get too high, among many other things.
Of course, it’s important to realize that each data maturity journey is unique. Startups have different needs than global conglomerates. Steel foundries have different needs from a company that makes meditation apps. Regardless, if you prioritize data, establish a core of expertise, give them the support they need to create the architecture that fits your company, and have the patience to see things through, things will start to click. Once this is done, you can proudly say you’ve reached Proficiency Point.
ADDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND DEMOCRATIZING DATA
Congrats on reaching Proficiency Point! You now have more control over your data and have a team of experts, and data is represented at the leadership level. This is an awesome achievement—and it’s also why many organizations are content to stay here. In fact, a lot of data maturity content has this landmark as a final destination, because the task of simply making data valuable is impressive in itself. But the final stage of data maturity isn’t just adding value; you should know how much value. It should always be clear—both to the data team and to leadership—why a team is working on one project over another. This will help you ascend beyond Proficiency Point.
Another crucial part of moving beyond Proficiency Point, to the rarefied air of Superpower Summit, is being able to scale data analytics without incurring a costly increase in the data team. Simply put, the data team can’t do everything. If you keep data analytics walled inside the confines of the data team, both the data team and everyone else will suffer.
Great data analytics approaches are democratized and scalable. No one expects their entire organization to be doctorate-level data scientists. Luckily, 90% of data analytics tasks don’t require that level of expertise. Let your data team tackle that 10%, and let everyone else do the rest by giving them intuitive tools to do it well. A major part of democratizing data is upskilling. Great data organizations need their employees to understand the basics of data—what it is, how to work with it, and how to troubleshoot. Without these skills, Superpower Summit is unreachable.
In addition, accountability is vital. Your team needs to know why they’re working on projects and what they’re shooting for. This accountability ensures that if things go well, it gives everyone a reason for celebration. And if projects come up short, there’s a sense of ownership and responsibility which allows the organization to learn and improve.
REACHING “SUPERPOWER SUMMIT”
So, what does the top of Data Maturity Mountain look like? Organizations at Superpower Summit have more than enough data capacity, they can tackle the toughest projects without stress because their experts are free from mindless minutiae, they know exactly how much they spend on data analytics and why, and they know the impact it’s having.
At the top, these organizations have figured out not what the panacea is for success (there is none), but have instead stuck with things, stayed nimble, and always looked to improve. It’s not glamorous—which only makes it a more impressive achievement.
Importantly, they have the right people working on the right things and the structure to ensure that it stays that way. No more long nights of data entry; no more last-minute panic about hitting numbers; regulatory reporting and reconciliation are automated; risks and threats are handled before they become problems.
Lastly, data and expertise within data mature organizations is accountable and democratized. This means they’ve enabled their entire organization to work with data in a scalable, transparent, secure way. It also means everyone has access to the right data, the freedom to create their own views of the data, and their own dashboards. And above all, at Superpower Summit, the data team is the source of diligence and process. Data projects are tied to results tied to real KPIs that dictate whether the project was a success; each project is tied to clear impact metrics, and each project is prioritized before work starts; and costs are monitored, managed, and compared with impact to make sure the investments the company makes in data are worth it.
The path will never be straight. You’ll run into your share of issues. You need to prepare – just like you wouldn’t scale a mountain without reserves of food and water, warm layers, and a sturdy pair of boots, you wouldn’t want to undertake your data journey without the right partners and technology. Find the organization, teams, and tools that can equip you and guide you as you are now.
Each journey is unique, but almost every successful data company follows this course. Believe us, it’s a great view from the top of that mountain. The only question is: when will you start your trek?
To learn more about Altair’s data analytics tools and capabilities, visit https://altair.com/altair-rapidminer.