Ever wondered how much data there is floating around the digital universe at any one time?
It’s a difficult number to pin down exactly, but one thing we know for sure is that it is big, very big. And it’s only getting bigger.
Estimates placed the figure at 4.4 zettabytes in 2013, equivalent to 4.4 trillion gigabytes. That’s a lot of novelty USB keyrings, but even more astonishing is IDC’s expectation for this figure to reach a truly mind-blowing 44 trillion gigabytes by the start of the next decade. It is little wonder then that worldwide spending on Big Data analytics is tipped to pass the $125 billion (Dh459 billion) mark this year.
Regular readers of this column will have heard me refer to Big Data plenty of times before — indeed, it sits alongside mobility, social media, and cloud as one of the four fundamental technology pillars currently transforming the world of business beyond all previous recognition. And while it may not boast the rock ‘n’ roll kudos of its three more poppy brethren, Big Data analytics is rapidly emerging as the place to hang out for those truly in the know.
Driving this interest is the realisation of how valuable all this data can be. Internet-era behemoths like Google and Amazon became what they are today precisely because they recognised the importance of data, and there are plenty more organisations now queuing up to tap into the new wave of opportunities promised by our increasingly connected future. And with less than 15 per cent of enterprise data currently being harnessed for analytics, the potential is huge, particularly for businesses that look across their entire organisational structures to see where more data can be used to enhance their decision-making processes.
It is here where so-called ‘pervasive analytics’ comes into play, with a growing number of forward-thinking enterprises now striving to deploy analytics into every nook and cranny of their organisations. This ‘pervasive’ use of analytics informs decision-making processes everywhere across the enterprise, ultimately helping to create a more predictable and valuable organisation. Unsurprisingly, however, while this vision is undoubtedly the Utopian dream for the modern enterprise, it is not a simple state to achieve.
The primary challenge facing many organisations is the lack of an organisational culture that encourages and supports the use of data analysis to help one make informed decisions. Certain departments or groups may have their own culture dictating a propensity for analytics, but a coherent organisation-wide strategy is often missing. As a consequence of this, analytics is still primarily used to guide strategic decision making, with executive management successfully tapping into its fruits while hundreds, and possibly even thousands, of day-to-day decision-making opportunities are starved of the assistance they require.
The widespread use of analytics supports an organisation whose culture, business processes, and technologies are designed and implemented with the goal of improving the strategic, operational, and tactical decision-making capabilities of a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. And by feeding individuals the right information, at the right time, a broad constituency of staff members can be equipped with actionable knowledge as part of their everyday procedures.
There are a number of factors that determine the relative success of making this happen, including the existence of structured performance management methodologies, the role of data governance policies, the provision of ongoing training, and, of course, the quality of the actual analytics solutions being deployed. But just as important as these more ‘technical’ influencers is the involvement of non-executive management, as they are key to shaping that all-important organizational culture that is so often lacking.
Statistically, non-executive management’s involvement in analytics has more influence on the pervasiveness of analytics than the involvement of executive management. Yes, executives must be involved in analytics initiatives for the transformation into an analytic organisation to take place, but their involvement and influence is different from that of their non-executive counterparts. The biggest impact of executives is that they often act as triggers for new analytics projects, while non-executive management can be more influential in driving these projects once they have been launched.
Indeed, the level of non-executive management involvement in promoting and encouraging the design and use of analytics across the organisation is critical. These important influencers can provide context to the benefits of using analytics and can spread analytics usage widely among their peers and across other groups. And to further facilitate this, I encourage organisations to seek out ‘analytics champions’ from within the workforce and actively support them as they educate and illustrate the value of analytics throughout the organisation.
Albert Einstein once said “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” And, of course, he was right. Businesses can invest in analytics and still fall behind their competitors if these other businesses are also investing in analytics. And even if analytics pervasiveness is critical to performance, it doesn’t lead directly to performance — the firm must still sell products and service its customers. To that extent, pervasive analytics is not a magic wand that will suddenly cure all business ills, but as the digital universe continues to explode, its significance in enabling business success is only going to grow.
— The columnist is group vice-president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at global ICT market intelligence and advisory firm International Data Corporation (IDC) He can be contacted via Twitter @JyotiIDC
