Organizational Readiness: A Recipe for Success

Embracing Ambient Analytics requires a company to undergo a transformational change. [1] Yet at least 67 percent of technology projects - including cloud computing, big data, and social technology - are either scrapped or deliver far short of their expected Return on Investment (ROI). [2]

When you are ready to embrace the digital revolution, you will want to get the most out of your people, time, and monetary investments.

A Backward Approach 

One reason so many transformation projects fail is because they approach organizational readiness from the wrong direction. Looking at change through the lens of the people, process, and technology that are impacted, companies often approach transformation in this order:

1. Technology: An executive buys a software service or piece of technology, thinking that technology is the missing piece for the company to compete against its competitors.
2. Process: A well-meaning project manager creates a project plan that develops process flows showing how they will fit the technology into what the company does today and in the future.
3. People: An operational owner is tasked with supporting the technology and process, usually using his or her existing staff that already supports the business.

A Recipe For Success

Successful organizational readiness works in the reverse order of those that fail, with one important addition: Services. Services are the products and services you provide to internal and external customers that they are willing to pay for and that make their lives better.

1. Services: What goods will customers want to buy from you? What unique data and insights can your company provide that will enable you to compete - and surpass - your competitors?
2. People: What skills do your employees currently have? Are there any gaps in terms of data analytics that, with a little training, could differentiate your organization based on the industry-leading knowledge you already have in-house?
3. Process: When, where, and why do the services, products, and people come together? Based on the desired transformation, are there new ways to organize that will enable your people to take in even more data and identify even better business insights than can be achieved today?
4. Technology: What tools will you use to unleash the power of your organization to deliver your services?

Successful change is possible. You just need the right recipe.
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References
[1] Litvinov, Viktor, Ambient Consortium (2016) "Ambient Analytics Manifesto: A Call to Action"
[2] David, Javier E., CNBC (2015) "Why technology spending isn't all it's cracked up to be: Study"

Michelle Smeby specializes in helping corporations deliver transformational change. Her unique approach to organizational change engages employees with strong executive sponsorship to achieve a corporate change that truly lasts. She is a thought leader in Organizational Readiness, Business Transformation, Strategic Problem-Solving, and Business Process Development and Re-engineering.

3 Reasons Why Data Scientists will be in Such Great Demand in the Near Future

To be a success in business today and in the future, organizations need to be able to convert raw data into valuable insights. Timely insights are of the most value, as they allow companies to be more agile, and responsive to their customers and markets, giving them a competitive edge.  With current data insights, businesses can be the trendsetters and not constantly playing catch-up.  In Jamie Thomas' article, Insights-as-a-Service Grows with Focus on Real Time in DataInformed, 8/11/2105, she explains the need for real-time insights.  http://data-informed.com/insights-as-a-service-grows-with-focus-on-real-time/

http://bit.ly/1gYqIAC

As Gadi Lenz, discusses in Prepare for the IoT Revolution, DataInformed, 11/3/2015, the IoT has created such a vast amount of information that companies who want to leverage that information have to understand and incorporate new techniques to overcome the nosiness of the IoT data. This will create big challenges for companies to develop new methods and systems for analysis.  As companies recognize the gap between collected data and analyzed data, they will have to determine what information really needs to be collected and what is just noise that will not impact business decisions, but will take their valuable limited resources.  http://data-informed.com/prepare-now-for-the-iot-revolution/

Drawing on these two articles, it is apparent that businesses today and tomorrow will need to focus on utilizing the information they collect and develop ways to cut through the clutter.  The Data Scientist plays a vital role in the ability of an organization to use their data effectively.

Managing Data – As IoT data is primarily collected from both fixed and mobile sensors, it represents a new type of streaming data for companies who are used to working with their own static databases.  This new challenge will require extensive experience and know-how.

Leverage Analytics – Companies will have to overcome the nosiness of the IoT to be able to leverage the analytics derived from the all the data collected.

Data Insights – With all the data that is collected, it needs to be refined, easily accessible and analyzed to convert the raw information into vital insights.

To be a viable business today and in the future, it is imperative for organizations to prepare now for the onslaught of available information with the expertise to derive pertinent insights from what is collected.

Lori Steinberg is an experienced, data-driven professional with an MBA and over 20 years’ experience developing and executing sales and marketing strategies in distribution, medical device, and safety markets.  Currently a Digital Marketing Consultant with Advanced Analytics of the Future (AAotF) and pursuing a Social Media Marketing Specialization Certification from Northwestern University. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/social-media-marketing. 

To secure the competitive advantage available through enhanced data availability and analytic techniques, companies will have to address the lack of trained analytic talent. AAotF provides practical solutions to individuals and businesses who seek to bridge the growing gap between the supply and demand of analytic talent.