Many businesses are becoming more data-driven, incorporating more data and leveraging data insights to improve decision-making, solve complex challenges, and boost revenue and profitability.
Traditional BI tools can’t keep up with the pace of today’s digital economy and the advent of the latest technologies like cloud and artificial intelligence, so being data-driven necessitates a different approach. The modern data analytics platform is better adapted to new scenarios your business requires, from powerful reporting to real-time information to analytics on the go, and the time has come for something better.
Therefore, which platform do you want to use? Without a doubt, not every platform is made equal. Before investing in analytics, every buyer should ask three key questions: value, stakeholders, and total cost of ownership (TCO).
Where Will the Value Come From?
The truth is that we can never honestly know or forecast anything – ever – but the good news is that value can be found practically anywhere in the analytics ecosystem if you look for it. So, first, assess your data analytics platform’s short- and long-term objectives. What outcome do you expect it to have on your business, and how do you see it driving value?
Every firm must understand and measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a baseline to succeed, as they are essential to support incremental value. Not only that, but must spread the value derived from those KPIs throughout the organization. Every individual should have the confidence to use – rather than be controlled by confidently – data. Data, which is constantly changing, must also prompt fast responses for your company to stay ahead of opportunities and avoid risks.
Identifying and leveraging the correct KPIs should now be a baseline requirement for success, yet KPIs alone cannot significantly move the needle in an organization’s favor. The value created by revealing hidden data insights and their impact on decision-making is the real game-changer here.
Who Are the Stakeholders?
From technical data scientists and data architects to by-the-numbers sales representatives, your stakeholders are everywhere. As previously said, you want people of all skill levels to feel comfortable working with data and using it to make the most suitable decisions for your business now and in the future. Your entire workforce must be able to explore and use relevant data to make decisions that create significant change, allow your company to pivot during inflection moments, and look for value in unexpected places – or in areas where value is previously hidden.
So, how do you go about accomplishing all of this? Choose a platform that can give analytics to the broadest potential users. Ability to segment users as needed, determine which users require access to specific dashboards and reports, and how much self-service they may require to become competent with the data. Last but not least, don’t forget about implementation. Choose someone responsible for implementing and managing the platform, and rely on leadership to oversee the process. At the top, you need champions.
What Will It Cost?
Sticker shock is a frequent thing. You can look at a car and be taken aback by the price, so you choose the less expensive one. But how much will it cost to maintain? How many miles per gallon do you think you’ll get? Budgeting for analytics is more complicated than simply looking at the initial cost. Consider your analytics platform’s total cost of ownership (TCO), which entails being aware of any additional or hidden charges.
TCO is made up of numerous different elements. You’ll need to know if you’ll be dealing with a SaaS solution in the cloud. Examine the subscription and maintenance expenses associated with primary analytics, third-party, and underlying technology. You might also have to pay for on-premise hardware: That means production, development, and maintenance servers. Because you won’t know all of these details ahead of time, inquire about flexible deployment options from the vendor you’re considering. It would be better to examine the cost of continuous support, including IT, vendor management, implementation, and professional services. Don’t forget about user education and empowerment. It is all part of the TCO package, which you’ll need to think about when selling your product decision to top management.
The two most important TCO aspects to consider are the total cost of running your analytics solution. Whether you’ll require to invest resources in recreating application parameters at all times, users need to explore new datasets. Some solutions claim to be free, but upon closer scrutiny, they are anything but to implement a robust analytics solution at an enterprise scale; the “free” solution may involve a significant investment in updates, additional add-ons, and a patchwork of stack products. Consider your skilled staff when it comes to resources. You need an adaptable system that encourages freeform data exploration, not one that bottlenecks and comes to a halt each time a user wants to look at a different dataset and requires an expert to rebuild data queries.
