The concept of a key influencer in a field being called ad Evangelist has been around business for awhile. I remember reading how early on, called their marketing people evangelists. One the comes to mind is Guy Kawasaki, who wrote about this in his book Enchantment.
When you have something that is either new or still young in its overall adoption cycle, you need evangelists to raise awareness and being the process of acceptance.
When it comes to data evangelism, there has definitely been a number of key leaders pushing for more and more adoption of analytics across various organizations. Bernard Marr is one I have followed quite extensively.
Based on the importance so many companies have placed on analytics in recent years, you would expect to find that just about every business leader buys into the concept of using data to drive decision-making.
To be sure, the tech giants and the banks have been on board for a long time and you have seen the adoption of large-scale analytics really start to have a lasting impact among major players in fields like professional sports, the entertainment industry and politics.
And nowadays, most social media platforms have lots of built in analytics that provide instant insight into what’s hot and what’s not.
However, both factual evidence and general observation are showing this is not necessary the case across the board. We still see headlines saying things like “62% of businesses have no data analytics strategy”.
In fact, many small and medium sized companies are still not where they could be when it comes to optimizing their business data.
Three of the biggest challenges they face are not really knowing what question to ask, how to manage the data so that it is well governed and getting the data to decision-makers seamlessly.
Terms like data interpretation, data collection, data governance, and data automation are not concepts easily articulated by many business leaders.
Having a data intelligent business culture is a lot more than just buying a business intelligence tool and putting it on top of Excel.
There needs to be solid foundation in all aspects of the data life cycle, a clean and well governed data lake to house all business data, and the ability to present data impactfully.
I have found that this is often the missing element when organizations are trying to craft an analytics strategy. They focus on technology or they go out and acquire high priced talent, but in the end they struggle because not enough of their decision-makers are on the same page.
As I train groups of professionals, both in public and in in-house trainings, I find most of the attendees do not have a solid foundation in how data is collected, stored and managed. They just know how to run reports, build simple dashboards and share data in ways that do not often influence the audience as intended.
So that is what I have found myself doing hundreds of times the past several years. Helping build that foundation. Connecting the dots between the various phases of the data life cycle and helping define the data value chain. Once an organization has that down, then going out and getting a fancy new tool or bringing on data science makes sense.
Being a data evangelist is all about getting not just 1-2 executives to buy into the power of analytics, but making sure the whole organization is in a place where they can truly optimize their data, become more business intelligent and compete on the same level as the big boys when it comes to making data-driven decisions.
DMAIPH – Decision-making, Analytics & Intelligence Philippines
Over the past few years businesses in the Philippines have invested heavily in big data, analytics and data science, but still have not achieved the expected outcomes of data-driven companies.
Based on our learnings from the 100’s of Filipino businesses and 10,000s of Filipinos who have taken part in DMAIPH Analytics trainings all across the country, we have crafted a proven, non-technical approach to upskilling your team in analytics.
In 2019, we will be launching two new training programs: (1) Our DMAIPH Applied Analytics Master Class series for executives, leaders and decision-makers and our (2) DMAIPH Applied Analytics Boot Camp series for practicing analysts.
We will feature case studies of real Filipino run business, exercises based on actual analytics challenges being solved by Filipino analysts, and provide you with a copy of my book, Putting Your Data to Work, an analytics guidebook for the Filipino professional
Connect with us via our marketing partner, http://www.sonicanalytics.com to learn about upcoming analytics trainings and events.
Decision-Making, Analytics & Intelligence > Philippines 