siliconindia | | April 20178IN MY OPINIONBy Ritesh Ramesh, CTO, Global Data and Analytics, PwCTHE `PLATFORM MINDSET'- HOW ENTERPRISES CAN EVOLVE DATA AND ANALYTICS TO DELIVER BUSINESS VALUECompanies are fired up to launch new products and services and advanced analytics is their fuel, according to PwC's recent Global Data and Analytics: Big Decisions survey. Out of the 2100 global executives we surveyed, 61 percent said their companies are somewhat or rarely `data driven' and still rely on descriptive and diagnostic analytics. What makes the difference between the companies that use data and predictive analytics capabilities to drive disruption and those at risk of being driven from the marketplace by those more adept at the data game? I strongly believe that the next generation of value creation through analytics will be fueled by enterprises that innovate and deliver analytics products and solution adopting the `platform mindset'--a set of 5 unique traits.1. Multi-Domain, Integrated ApproachCompanies fail to maximize the full potential of analytics when they organize their analytics initiatives, investments and resources as vertical silos around business functions namely sales, marketing, finance, supply chain, human resources, etc. The result is a plethora of tightly coupled analytics solutions that extract the same data sets multiple times and redundant capabilities attained through different technologies/tools and execution teams, which hampers integration. In stark contrast to companies that organize their data and analytics vertically, companies with a "Platform Mindset" take on an integrated, horizontal approach by connecting and coordinating data and analytics across business unit initiatives, investments and resources. For example, in a leading retailer, a cross-domain team of marketing, strategic sourcing Ritesh Rameshand supply chain analytics domain experts coalesce to discuss the supplier-product-customer lifecycle. They ask questions like: how do the strategic suppliers need to be on boarded, managed and assessed? How will this impact the company's ability to source quality products to serve their customers? What assortment of inventory should we store to improve turnover, reduce operating costs and invest in customer experience?2. "Outside in" ParticipationBesides supporting their internal stakeholders and functions for improving their core business, companies with a "Platform Mindset" think outside the four walls of their enterprise when it comes to value generation activities from its data and analytics assets. They include suppliers, end-users, potential consumers, suppliers to their suppliers, strategic partners and peers from adjacent industries etc. One of our large global financial services clients interacts with a large and diverse set of internal and external data assets: customer, credit transactions, income, preferences, employment, wealth, demographics, credit and lifestyle data. The company not only drove efficiencies in their internal operations with these datasets but also developed a set of data services for their retail partners that delivered insights on customer spending, behaviors, consumption patterns to promote their goods and services. The participating retailer partners paid a service fee and customers had a choice to "opt in" to the service with no charges to receive promotions and coupons from their preferred retailers. The retailers observed a 4x times sales lift and redemption of coupons from subscribing to this data service. 3. Multi-layered Technology Talent StructureCompanies with a "Platform mindset" manage to get their organizational set-up and agile delivery model, right. They tend to create a well-integrated and coordinated three-layered analytics technology team structure with clearly delineated decision rights, roles and responsibilities between them.
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