Continuing on my theme of big data, it is evident that sophisticated, real-time, “appliance-focused” analytics is gradually taking over the Business Intelligence debate. Last week, while meeting some key Executives at a critical manufacturing client, it was apparent that large Manufacturing, Retail and Financial organizations are laying more and more emphasis on “analysis-oriented” BI rather than just being “reporting-centric”. The shift is almost stark, and lends a futuristic, analysis-driven perspective to their BI conversations. However, are these giants really ready for the cultural and organizational challenges that such a perspective poses? Are their leaders and grassroots workers ready to embrace this shift in business thinking?
The Future of Big Data
With some guidance, you can craft a data platform that is right for your organization’s needs and gets the most return from your data capital.
I strongly advocate that such visionary corporations invest more into ensuring their overall organizational readiness for definite strategic BI advantage. By simply purchasing and deploying a slew of predictive analytics and visualization technologies without much thought to long-term business consequences, companies may unintentionally leave out erecting those vital bridges between vision and strategy, people and technology, and execution and success! And that is why, when thinking of large-scale business transformation programs, my focus is always on bringing about that much-needed mind-set shift at all levels of the organization, in order for BI and Big Data projects to be successful.
Therefore, aligning your long-term strategic business vision with your BI strategy, and comparing your BI maturity and BI strategy with others in the market, will be the first steps to understanding if your organization is ready for that “analytic” perspective.
I agree companies really need to change their mindset. Just getting the latest and greatest in the market dies not spell success. But as you mentioned aligning the business vision with the BI strategy is a step on the right direction.
Absolutely!
Neetu, I would agree that simply looking at reports is only the first step. Employing analystics extracts the real value from these tools.