Implementing a data-driven culture is to put into practice a series of changes in the use of resources and in the mindset of employees of an enterprise so that they can make better decisions with data. The model leaves out intuition and puts technologies, such as Big Data, Business Intelligence, and Business Analytics, to work and increase the hit rates achieved by the company across all of its processes.
Used by many organizations around the world, the data-driven model requires that a brand invest both in people and methodologies that replace the previously used decision-making processes.
Do you want to know how to implement these data analysis resources in the business and what are the main reasons for doing so? Then keep reading!
What are the benefits of a data-driven culture?
Changing from instinct for data is advantageous in any area of operation. Nowadays, all the major organizations in the world bet on Big Data to better understand the consumer and predict their behaviors and desires.
According to BI Survey, less than 40% of these companies still make decisions without relying on Business Intelligence or Analytics solutions. All others reached the top of the pyramid and stood out from other brands in the market by using data, which also brought benefits such as:
- Upgrades of technologies used within the business;
- Integration of management with software in the cloud, which increases data accessibility;
- Change in the mentality of employees and optimization of the processes carried out in the daily routine;
- Optimization of information sharing and decision-making;
- More accurate market segmentation;
- Focus on consumer and their expectations;
- Better cost-benefit by promoting products and services, with online or offline ads;
- Identification of threats that jeopardize the continuity of operations;
- Detection of opportunities for growth and expansion; and
- Agility to respond to market changes.
How to implement this change in my business?
Step 1: Create a strategy
Planning is the creation of successful initiatives within companies. So, before you start implementing a data-driven culture, you must evaluate what you want to gain from it and what the short, medium- and long-term business objectives are. Successful strategies can only be developed around them.
This planning should also include what kind of data will be stored by the brand and how. What business processes are quantifiable and can provide concrete information about what happens in the business? Will this data be stored on local servers, in the cloud, or divided between both alternatives?
Step 2: Collect and analyze data
To make decisions with data, you must have access to them. A good way to start is with the implementation of integrated business management solutions, which can accumulate information from various areas and increase the visibility of organizational procedures.
Resources as simple as EPMs, ERPs and CRMs make a lot of difference to the success of a data strategy.
With them, it is possible to compare the main statistics of the enterprise. After a while, however, Analytics-focused tools will be necessary in order to handle the large volume accumulated by the company.
The choice of software that work in the cloud and whose data can be accessed from anywhere is particularly beneficial, since they do not limit how this information can be used by managers. The fact that they are available on multiple devices simultaneously brings visibility to operations and allows them to be a part of every step of the decision-making process.
Step 3: Transform insights into actionable decisions
There are many Business Intelligence and Analytics systems that make the data accumulated in the previous step become valuable insights. They detect the most important information for each decision and put it in evidence in reports and dashboards that enable employees, customers, and partners to understand them better.
Use these features often, and gradually eliminate the decisions made without the support of data.
Step 4: Encourage your employees to do the same
Implementing a lot of technologies has little impact if you cannot get employees to use them.
Create incentives for management systems to become part of processes and operations, provide training for new software to be used properly, and instruct employees to always search for feasible information for the ideas they present, using the data the company maintains.
Set up access keys so that everyone can check, in the cloud, the information relevant to the tasks they perform, as well as find answers to the most common business questions in the data.
Which organizations was successful using data-driven?
Netflix
When Netflix entered the market in 1997, delivering DVDs by mail, it revolutionized the way Americans got and consumed content. By implementing, ten years later, a streaming service with a content library that can be accessed from multiple devices, it changed the rules of the game again.
But how has the company managed to change the way we consume content so drastically? By using data-driven culture.
There is no data taken by Netflix that is not powered by Big Data and processed by advanced Analytics tools. It is these features that point to what will show up prominently in the main page of each user’s app, and that allow the brand to decide which series to renew and which movies to sponsor.
Using this strategy, in less than a decade since the implementation of the on-demand service, Netflix has become a channel that not just distributes content; today, it competes with traditional TV networks for awards, such as the Golden Globes, in which it has received twenty nominations and four awards.
Amazon
Another organization that has its data as its main exchange currency is Amazon. That is why it has been able to penetrate so many markets and become synonymous with efficiency around the world.
The statistical models it uses not only recommend new products, but guide decisions such as installing a warehouse in a certain location or investing in a virtual assistant such as Alexa.
Data-driven companies are ahead of the competition because they are able to quickly interpret a number of factors that influence their success or failure, leaving aside the emotions in decision-making.
They are more accurate and prone to identifying trends before they become clear to other competitors. As a result, they have no difficulty in identifying new opportunities and markets in which they must join in order to expand their businesses, or in making them successful even in the midst of crises.
Did you enjoy understanding how implementing a data-driven culture can put your organization on the right track? Speak to a consultant and discover how MyABCM’s cost and profitability management software will bring more visibility to the data of your company!