The negative consequences of the health crisis caused by COVID-19 have spread worldwide, affecting society, the economy, industry, and the global supply chain, among others.
The pace at which the world has adapted to the pandemic’s onslaught has surprised many, putting them in a difficult position. This includes the executives and directors of companies, in charge of making decisions, who took certain risks without considering specific critical data. Ideally, they should have been more data-driven given the magnitude and speed of the changes.
Uncertainty, among other factors, triggered the need to strengthen and develop new capacities for data analysis. For this reason, 32% of companies accelerated or introduced initiatives to maximize these capacities at the beginning of the health crisis.
Why is the industry running at a speed imposed on it by COVID-19?
Because they rely on data in myriad ways to meet customer demands, stay competitive, and prosper. All industrial sectors have been affected by the crisis; some of these sectors and their responses to the said crisis were as follows:
- Medical supply providers leveraged the use of data in countries previously affected by COVID-19 to forecast needs for hospital beds and oxygen concentrators.
- Supermarket chains used sales data to identify and ship the essential items for their customers.
- Internet Service Providers used network traffic information to determine where they need to do more to increase bandwidth capacity and cater to the remote workforce’s demands.
- e-Commerce owners analyzed customer behavior patterns to identify why they abandoned an online purchase. In doing so, they could identify whether their biggest problem was shipping costs, the purchase process itself, payment methods, or a lousy communication strategy.
It is impossible to think of a company that can do without data if it wants to find more and better business opportunities. This is why data analysis has become an essential tool for business management, which should be based on relevant information and not intuition or experience of the managers concerned.
Ultimately, regardless of industry sector, organization size, or sales volume, data analytics is critical to forecasting demand, identifying supply chain issues, and determining the effectiveness of the business strategy. Moreover, when the operating environment becomes disruptive, analytics and data are – probably – the most stable and exact science to overcome difficulties.
If we consider that every 48 hours, as much data is generated on the internet as humanity has created since the beginning of civilization until the year 2003 (about five exabytes of data), it is incredible to think that this trend will continue to grow exponentially, thanks to the technology and those responsible for managing it.
Significant challenges of data analysis.
One of the most significant opportunities for growth when adopting new technologies is, undoubtedly, proper analysis and use of data, which paradoxically represents a great challenge. In this regard it is critical to determine the following:
- How and what to process from the first moment.
- Where should the data be stored?. Cloud-computing technology, no doubt facilitates data storage by allowing unlimited and safe storage as well as easy access to the stored data.
- Business Intelligence and Business Analytics tools become significant for analyzing the data.
- Who will direct data analysis? It is none other than the Chief Data Officer (CDO). These professionals have not only played a fundamental role in companies’ responses to the pandemic, but they will also continue to be protagonists in deciding what companies do or do not do in the future.
In a high-risk environment, misinformation and organizations that make hasty decisions can together create the perfect storm. for choosing the CDO to become a life or death decision for the organization.
A CDO’s responsibilities.
The primary function of a CDO is to provide timely and accurate data. They do so by capturing relevant data and converting it into valuable information as a competitive lever.
Considering that data can be misunderstood or managed or stolen, by itself, it may not add any value to decision-making, however much its volume. Hence, CDOs are in charge of the following:
- Maintain adequate levels of security, comply with current legislation, and protect data against attacks and fraud. They also consider how information is obtained, shared, and used.
- Appropriate data governance management to determine who may or may not use specific data, in what situations, and through what means.
- Execute analytics, management, and data science processes to incorporate models based on Artificial Intelligence. This is the only way to know the company’s performance and quickly identify any weak points.
What do businesses expect from their CDOs?
Market dynamics being what they are, at present, top executives of the organizations need immediate access to new and critical data to make unprecedented, short-term decisions that suitably adjust their business strategies.
Banks must rethink credit models. Manufacturers must reconfigure supply chains. Health centers must redefine what they consider urgent care and so on. CDOs are responsible for not only directing the collection, storage, and servicing of data but also working with businesses and functional heads to identify and drive new priorities.
If one were to encompass the essential functions of a CDO in the changing and digital technology-powered business environment in which we live, the following would get highlighted:
- Ensure the operability of data teams and the entire organization.
Keeping the organization running and safeguarding data while the business looks to react quickly can be complex. However, CDOs rely on constant review of business continuity plans for their data operations, ensuring adequate support across core platforms and identifying key personnel.
Undoubtedly, it will be necessary to form a special team for data analysis that includes report owners, administrators, engineers, scientists, and data visualization specialists. This group must work in close cooperation with the leaders of different business units.
Further, CDOs also monitor remote access to information and existing controls and limit the ability to export data. - Lead solutions for the challenges ahead, including in crises.
Even organizations must prepare for new ways of working and serving customers, including in the face of different waves of pandemics or other emergencies. The CDOs must study possible stress scenarios and mitigate the risks they anticipate for their organizations. This includes fine-tuning data processes through actions such as «turning off» or limiting the flow and better understanding of business challenges from leaders so that relevant data is available when needed.
That apart, a CDO must explore new and alternative sources, such as video, audio, and geospatial data. A CDO would also be expected to evaluate opportunities to exchange data with colleagues from companies in the same sector, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help solve social problems related to the current crisis or any other crisis in the future. - Not reinvent the wheel (Technology).
It is not always helpful and fortunate to spend time and resources on designing a data architecture model. Sometimes the process ends up in analysis paralysis. Therefore, in some instances, it would be appropriate to adopt, where possible, an alternative approach that includes reusing existing platforms, including API-based tools for data access and data management.
Reuse – wherever possible – avoid investing too much in large platforms before they are needed.
Pre-built data ecosystem platforms built to manage data securely can also be leveraged, but their use requires extensive research.
In short, the possibilities for efficient data analysis are high, as long as it is executed under the direction of a trained CDO, working with a suitable platform.
You have come to the right place for the right platform. At CeleriTech, we know how critical data analysis is for SMEs, and for them, we have created Keenlog Analitycs.
The technological data analysis ally that your business deserves.
Keenlog Analytics is a business analytics tool designed especially for SMEs. It works perfectly with your SAP Business One data. However, we know that not all organizations have a data intelligence team, so it is difficult to know where to start.
Keenlog Analytics has a set of pre-built dashboards that allow you to connect to data sources and extract them for adequate visualization and analysis. This tool works based on the most relevant KPIs for critical areas of your business. All this is managed on the cloud rather smoothly and with the help of an easy-to-configure tool that can be operationalized for an organization in just ten days.
Learn about our subscription-based and very affordable plans.
