When used efficiently, data can help organizations make decisions based on facts instead of on “gut feel.” Data can uncover trends, point the way towards resource-saving ideas, focus marketing efforts, lead to the development of new products and services that people really want to buy, and much more.
This is the promise of data.
The reality, though, is that few organizations have the people and systems in place to make use of their massive piles of raw data. What I hear over and over again is that companies are not lacking data, they’re lacking insights. The analysis required to take the never-ending flood of data and turn it into something useful just isn’t happening.
Dealing with your data is a big project
Because efficiently-used data can have such a positive impact on your business, this is something that you want to take seriously. Data should be a full-time assignment, not just a side task. If you want to do this right, your obvious options are to either create an internal team, or bring in a professional Data Agency to do the work for you.
These are some of the steps that we walk our prospects and clients through. If you are unable to answer most of these questions with your internal team, have the capacity to accomplish these tasks internally, then it might be time to start the conversation with a Data Agency who could help:
- Determine what steps need to be taken to handle your data project. Learn More
- Complete a data audit to see if you have all of the data you need or if important pieces are missing, inaccessible or incompatible with your other data.
- Develop a cohesive strategy for accessing data that comes from the systems of multiple outside vendors.
- Pull all of your data sources together and make them usable.
- Filter through your data to get rid of the pieces that are irrelevant.
- Analyze and interpret your data to answer important business questions, tell a bigger picture, and translate this insight into action steps.
- Create a structure that allows for ongoing analysis and reporting.
- Make the results of the data analysis easily accessible for Senior-level management and others.
- Provide dashboard-style reporting that lets users drill down into the details as needed.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by your data projects, don’t worry, you are not alone according to a survey of more than 600 companies worldwide by Econsultancy and Ensighten nearly two-thirds (62 percent) often feel overwhelmed by the volume of incoming data, and a staggering 85 percent are unable to extract the full value from the data sources to which they have access. The good news is, as data analytics experts, we are here to help.
