Category: Analytics Solutions

Current Trends in Small Business Analytics

Analytics as a discipline is constantly evolving. Advances in technology allow what was once expensive and difficult to now be at the fingertips of any business user.  The goal of analytics is “to turn data into information, and information into insight.” -Carly Fiorina, Former CEO of HP

Fiorina, highlighted some of the key steps in analytics. Reporting turns raw data into information that can be consumed by a company, and through analysis you turn information into insights. Taking her comments one important step further, you need to turn insight into action if you want to progress down the path to value with analytics.

Analytics is constantly evolving, so staying current is paramount to success.

Staying current is all about being strategic in time management. I have to stay up to date on current trends in analytics as well as with new analytics applications and technologies. Besides just staying current for my own benefit, I share relevant updates with my colleagues, clients and followers.

Every few months I devote a day to discover what the current trends in analytics are. I do this both to refresh the slides in my presentation and to refresh my mind to see what I may have missed.

The amount of literature out there on analytics continues to blossom at an amazing rate, making it a true challenge to stay well versed on what’s hot and what’s not. I read a new analytics themed book about once a month and I have well over 200 blogs, web sites and social media groups cataloged. So I like to think I’m pretty well versed on what is current.

If I had to pick 5 current trends in small business analytics to talk about it would be:

(1) Picking a Good Business Intelligence Tool,

(2) Mining Public Unstructured Data,

(3) Mapping Your Business Data Environment,

(4) Centralizing Various Data Sources,

(5) Understanding Data Science and Big Data Analytics.

Every time I go to list the top 5 analytics trends, I find that some things change and some stay the same. Ever since I have been writing about analytics, data visualization is near the top. Business dashboards continue to be a big need. Business Intelligence (BI) tools evolve and new ones’ pop up, but Tableau continues to be a market leader.

Small Businesses who want to optimize the use of analytics need to start with finding a good BI tool to help them make sense of their business data. MS Excel is the most common option to get started with.

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Small Business Analytics – The field of small business analytics is just starting to blossom as companies are looking for more data-driven decision-making to prosper in the age of Big Data. DMAIPH is at the fore front of providing analytics training, consulting and outsourcing options to small businesses. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to set up a free consultation on how to get more analytics in your small business.

Fast Data is the New Big Data

Starting to hear a new buzzword for analytics… Fast Data. Everyone knows about Big Data that is growing almost exponentially.

It is coming to us in mind boggling sizes, from all across the Internet of Things and quicker then ever before.  The traditional 3 V’s of data (volume, variety and velocity) don’t seem to be enough anymore to describe the challenges we have before us.

SO now we are looking for Fast Data solutions, which means getting the right data you need at the right time with minimal delay.

The concept of waiting for reports to be pushed to you so you can analyze them is so 20th Century.

Now its all about being fast.

I can show you a thing or two (or a dozen) about how to supercharge your analytics by moving past management repots and even past business dashboard to start looking for solutions that get data to the decision-makers without any middle man.

Big Data is now Fast Data. Don’t get left behind.

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Join me this coming Feb 21 2017 for a Data Analytics Seminar in Ortigas where we talk about how to take your Big Data and make it your Fast Data.

DMAIPH specializes in arming the Data-Driven Leader with the tools and techniques they need to build and empower an analytics centric organization. Analytics leadership requires a mastery of not just analytics skill, but also of nurturing an analytics culture. We have guided thousands of Filipino professionals to become better analytics leaders.

To that end, DMAIPH offers a wide range of analytics centric training solutions for professionals and students via public, in-house, on-site, and academic settings. We tailor each training event to meet the unique needs of the audience. If you need empowerment and skills enhancement to optimize the use of analytics in your organization, we are here to help.

Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to set up a free consultation on which of our DMAIPH analytics training solutions is best for you.

The Four P’s (Principles) of Marketing

I was recently asked how I apply the Four Principles of Marketing to my business.

The 4 P’s being Product, Place, Price and Promotion.

When I was with Wells Fargo, I spent a significant portion of my time working with marketing teams to help analyze market opportunity, assess market penetration, and to measure marketing campaign success.

I learned quite a bit about how to attach metrics to each of the 4 P’s to determine our strategy.

When it comes to product, the most common metric is sales. How many products have been sold and how much revenue that translate too is a cornerstone of any business plan.

It can be just important though to blend in analysis that is not reflected by internal data alone. Knowing how your product stacks up to the competition and what your customers are saying about your product are much more challenging data points to capture.

As for place, the general data point most business decision-makers start with is how much sales activity comes out of a location or geographic area.

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Place can also be reflected in marketing channel; in-store, direct, online, etc. Decision-makers tie this concept to market place and always look within that place to determine marketing plans.

I also like to add demographic data to place to help understand overall opportunity and trends in how the market place is evolving.

Price is much more than just what it costs to produce and sell a product. Marketing expense must also be counted in the amount ultimately charged for a product. Price usually contain several components that can be analyzed to make sure price covers expense and allows for profit.

Again, I look to competitor data to help assess if the price we are charging is optimal. As a rule, you don’t want to be too expensive or too cheap when your customers have a choice.

Finally, when looking at promotion, its more than just where you sell your product and what marketing materials your use. Using the right delivery channel and leveraging your company brand also factor into the equation and should have metrics attached to them.

So, as you can see, marketing is more than just counting products sold, finding a place to sell the product, setting a price and beginning a promotion. For a good marketing analytics strategy, that is just the beginning.

An effective marketing analytics approach should have at least 10-20 data points to more accurately capture the things you need to know like how big is your market, how competitive is your product, how deeply have you penetrated your market, and what delivery options are the most effective ways to promote your product.

The 4 P’s of Marketing can easily be built into a marketing analytics dashboard where you see your key performance indicators and make swift, decisive business decisions.

Since setting up my business about 5 years ago, I have helped dozens of businesses get a better handle on their 4 P’s using marketing analytics.

Let me show you how we can do the same for your business.

Business Strategy with Analytics – Aligning a business strategy to drive an organization forward requires a robust analytics solution. Businesses who have good analytics tend to be much more profitable and efficient then ones that do not. DMAIPH has helped dozens of companies in both the U.S. and the Philippines with adding more data analysis in their business strategy. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out what we can do to help you align your business strategy with analytics.

Where’s the Analytics? The Analytics Challenges of Malls in Metro Manila

I spend a lot of time in malls when I’m in Metro Manila.

Business meetings at coffee shops.

Staff meetings at restaurants.

Getting exercise why walking to hit my FitBit goal.

I see a lot of movies.

And I am not alone.

Malls are where everyone goes. To beat the heat, to meet up with friends, to conduct business, and of course to shop and eat.

Given that I spend so much time in malls, I think a lot about the analytics that can take place behind the scenes.

Or in many cases, the apparent lack of analytics.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love the Philippines.

The heart and spirit of the Filipino people is the primary reason I set up a business here.

But I do sometimes wonder, how much better things could be in my adopted home if there was more widespread use of analytics in decision-making.

The malls are full of great examples of decisions that are pretty much done without much data analysis.

At least that is how it appears to me.

So in this series of blog posts I will discuss several topics that come to my mind when being in a mall in Metro Manila and how I would go about using analytics to investigate my observations.

Analytics in the Philippines – The Philippines is at the center of the action when it comes to solutions to the global need for analytics. Blessed with a solid foundation of young, educated and English speaking workforce, companies around the world are look for Filipino analytics talent to fill analytics positions. DMAIPH was set up to facilitate these solutions and bring the talent and the business together. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can help you take advantage of this unique global opportunity.

Philippines Analytics Review – 2016

There is no doubt that analytics is now a big deal in the Philippines.

Now that 2016 is in the books, I can proudly say I spent the better part of the past year helping Filipino get more analytics in their businesses.

My primary goal for the year has been meet, so let’s recap how that happened…

My involvement in empower Filipino companies, students and professionals to make data-driven decisions has renewed my passion for being a top name brand for analytics in the Philippines.

As I think back the Recruitment Analytics training that DMAIPH and Sonic Analytics put on early in the year, I think about how HR professionals are now actively looking to get more analytics in their business.

The simple fact is there are more white collar, professional staff jobs out there then there are qualified candidates. And its only getting worse. Recruitment Analytics is the only way to stay on the cutting edge.

This was even more evident when I spoke in front of close to 100 HR professionals at a workshop called HR & Recruitment Analytics Techniques put on by my good friends at Ariva Events Management.

We spent the day talking about how get IT when it comes to recruitment. The 3 I’s of analytics; identify, inventory and integrate data as well as the 3 T’s; talent, technology and technique needed to make sense to the data.

I once again joined Ariva for their annual Philippines HR Congress. One of the central themes of the conference attended by over 1000 HR professionals was Aligning HR Strategy with Analytics.

HR teams are sitting on a gold mine of insightful data, but in most cases have not been able to take advantage of it.

Big Data Analytics has come so fast and furious, that it takes a lot of effort to become analytics champions and try and move a company culture towards more data-driven decision-making. This was top of mind for all the attendees.

At the same time I have been doing speaking and public training, CHED has been training teachers on how to teach business analytics. Their efforts to explain the Fundamentals of Business Analytics to faculty and students will go a long way in making the Philippines a significant analytics hub.

I have been honored to have helped several schools in adding my two centavos to the discussion about analytics careers for fresh grads.

Another moment of great personal pride came when I published my newest book, Putting Your Data to Work. This guidebook is designed to help Filipino professionals who aren’t too familiar with analytics, get started.

In early November, I was part of a panel discussion at the Big Data Conference at Enduran college. I was and still am super excited about the topic, The Future of Big Data Analytics in the Philippines. This is my passion, turning students and young professionals interested in analytics on to the huge opportunity they have in front of them.

A week later I conducted a Data Analytics seminar with DMAIPH and Sonic Analytics. The primary goal here was to demonstrate how having a thorough understanding of the data environment in a business can lead to huge successes.

Next up was a job fair at Trinoma mall put on by Job Quest PH. My goal here was to recruiting a few young professionals looking to get started in analytics as DMAIPH is looking for some marketing analysts.

A few days later I attended a Data Science event being set up by my good friends at Talas. This free event saw a meeting of the minds of a lot of thought leaders in data science as well as industry leaders in employing analysts and data science. Pretty exciting stuff.

The final 2016 event on my schedule was another full day training organized by my key business partner Ariva. The topic, Big Data and Business Intelligence, which proved to be a great opportunity to help people gain a stronger handle on analytics and how they can be an analytics champion in their business.

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2016 turned out to be my most successful year yet. Analytics in now mainstream and I love it.

Analytics in the Philippines – The Philippines is at the center of the action when it comes to solutions to the global need for analytics. Blessed with a solid foundation of young, educated and English speaking workforce, companies around the world are look for Filipino analytics talent to fill analytics positions. DMAIPH was set up to facilitate these solutions and bring the talent and the business together. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can help you take advantage of this unique global opportunity.

 

Being A Great Analyst > Key Attribute #4 > Be Enchanting

If you are a good analyst or a decision-maker that uses analytics, being enchanting makes your job much, much easier.

One key to using data and analysis effectively is understanding how to enchant people by being likable, trustworthy and using data and analysis to further a great cause.

A few years back, I came across a book by Guy Kawasaki called Enchantment. It is my all-time favorite business book.

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Guy Kawasaki is a marketing expert and used to be Apple’s Chief Evangelist (aka Chief Marketing Officer). At Apple their goal is to convert customers to being loyal to Apple products for life.

In Enchantment, Guy talks about how Apple and other successful companies are able to create enchantment in their customer base that fuels passionate and long lasting relationships.

As an analyst there are many lessons that you can draw from Enchantment to being an incredibly impactful member of your organization.

One of the pillars of Enchantment is being Trustworthy. As an analyst, you have to be trustworthy for people to want to follow the direction your data and analysis point.

Your data has to be clean, valid, and accurate.

Your analysis has to be easy to understand, easy to replicate and easy to boil down into a few bullet points.

When you accomplish these things you are creating trust. Getting decision-makers to listen to what the data is telling them comes when the analysts have their trust.

That’s just one part of Enchantment. I use many examples of how to apply Guy’s concept to data and analysis in my training classes and in my company.

If you are looking for a way to add value to your company, which in turn can make the business more successful then this book is a must read.

Analytics Culture – The key to using analytics in a business is like a secret sauce. It is a unique combination of analytics talent, technology and technique that are brought together to enrich and empower an organization. A successful analytics culture is not easy to create, but DMAIPH can show you how. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can build a strategic plan to turn your company into analytics driven success story.

Being A Great Analyst > Key Attribute #3 > Be Decisive

If you are a good analyst or a decision-maker that uses analytics, being decisive is much, much easier.

One key to using data and analysis effectively is understanding how people make decisions and what impacts the ability to make unbiased decisions.

A few years back I came across a book by Dan and Chip Heath called Decisive. It was a fantastic read.

The Heath Brothers are marketing and management experts who do a lot of research into what works and what doesn’t in the business world.

Decisive looks at what influences effective decision-makers overcome.

As an analyst, there are many valuable lessons that can be applied to both selecting data and presenting the analysis of the data.

One example of being Decisive that I use a lot related to trying to avoid a narrow frame. Too often we limit our choices.

When it comes to what data to use to answer business questions, we have to always ask ourselves is this the right data? Is there other data I can use to validate my findings? What data can be blended with this data to tell a more compelling story?

Being aware of your own biases will help you ensure you get the right data, that it’s what is really need to answer business questions at hand.

Being of aware of the biases of the consumer of your analysis (generally your boss and their peers) can help you position your data in ways that can mitigate those biases and let them see what you see.

There are dozens of examples from Decisive that I use in training people to be analysts and in using analytics effectively.

It is a book, well worth your time.

Analytics Culture – The key to using analytics in a business is like a secret sauce. It is a unique combination of analytics talent, technology and technique that are brought together to enrich and empower an organization. A successful analytics culture is not easy to create, but DMAIPH can show you how. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can build a strategic plan to turn your company into analytics driven success story.

The Analytics of Project Measurement

Peter Drucker perfectly summed up why big corporations rely so heavily on analytics when he said “What gets measured, gets managed.”

A successful analyst is able to remove the noise when analyzing data and isolate what matters to his or her organization.

With most companies collecting large amounts of data, you need to be both talented and disciplined to pinpoint key insights that can yield value.

In the corporate world, business analytics is widely use to track, analyze and report Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

KPIs are rolled up to senior leadership to drive business strategy, identify and mitigate risk and to optimize operational productivity.

This approach is very similar to the way projects in the Measurement and Evaluation are tracked, analyzed and reported.

I would define measurement simply as the act of measuring to ascertain the impact, size, level of success, etc. of a specific data set.

There are many components to measuring projects making sure the project is on schedule, stays in scope, is not over budget, the quality of work is up to par, the end goal of the project remains relevant, and finally if the project is ultimately deemed a success.

A foundation in analytics will contribute to a more optimal and efficient process of measurement. Like businesses do with KPIs, you should start will identifying that are the key measurements your project will be judged on.

Once you know those data points, then figure out how to collect them, analyze them, and report them.

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At each step you can look for new data, validate existing data and blend data from other sources to add value to your measurement efforts.

Once you get to the reporting phase you can look for cutting edge techniques in data visualization and interactive reporting like dashboards to help educate and empower your audience.

That is how it is done in the corporate world where business analysts boil down massive amounts of big, often unstructured data into a few bullet points that allow decision-makers to take action.

When it comes to the Measurement of Project Evaluation, understanding various analytics solutions can make all the difference.

Analytics Education – Facilitating a mastery of the fundamentals of analytics is what DMAIPH does best. All across the world, companies are scrambling to hire analytics talent to optimize the big data they have in their businesses. We can empower students and their instructors with the knowledge they need to prepare for careers in analytics. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can set a guest lecturer date, On-the-Job Training experience or other analytics education solution specifically tailored to your needs.

Most Analysts Are Spending Only 20% of Their Time on Reporting

In many cases reporting is either something that is set and stone and just needs to be filled or there is a time crunch forcing quick and dirty reporting.

Little time is devoted to using the data for storytelling, maximizing data visualization and really providing the audience exactly what its needs.

% Finding Analyzing Reporting
10 12% 6% 33%
20 14% 10% 39%
30 20% 31% 24%
40 6% 14% 2%
50 31% 16% 2%
60 14% 18% 0
70 0% 0% 0
80 0% 2% 0
90 0% 0 0
100 0% 0 0
       

Ideally, at least a third of the time should be spent post data gathering and analysis to really give the end user of the data the things they need for intelligent decision-making.

A full one-third only spend 10% of their time on reporting, which to me means that there is a lot of the waste in their analytics process.

If you take a full 40 hour week to complete a high priority, high value report but only have Friday afternoon to boil down your finding into a report, it is highly unlikely that your report will fully capture the fruits of your labor.

However, if the time frame is even shorter… you have to do all this in one day, you are just getting to the reporting phase at around 3:30pm.

You have less than an hour and a half to summarize you methods and boil your findings into a few points.

Making sure you craft a compelling story to really influence decision-making based on intelligent data analysis is likely impossible.

Data is based on a survey I sent to 3,000 of my LinkedIn connections who are either analysts or work closely with data and analysis.

Analytics Survey – DMAIPH conducts quarterly analytics surveys to collect data on current trends in analytics. We specialize in surveys that assess analytics culture and measuring how aligned an organization is to using data and analytics  in its decision-making. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out more about how DMAIPH can conduct surveys to help you assess the analytics culture in your business.

 

 

Survey Results: Devote More Time For Data Analysis

Most Analysts Spend 50% of Their Time Finding Data

% Finding Analyzing Reporting
10 12% 6% 33%
20 14% 10% 39%
30 20% 31% 24%
40 6% 14% 2%
50 31% 16% 2%
60 14% 18% 0
70 0% 0% 0
80 0% 2% 0
90 0% 0 0
100 0% 0 0
       

Most analysts spend most of their time finding data.

Among other thing this can mean they are setting up data mining or data gathering process to look for the data or it can mean they reviewing their data for relevancy.

My experience is that when you spending this much time on the finding the right data phase it reflects a poorly structured data environment or a unfamiliarity with the data needed.

Dirty data is also a big time waste.

Experience is the best solution for challenges with finding data. The fact the finding phase % is so high speaks to both the explosion in the 3 V’s of Big Data (Velocity, Volume and Variety)  as well as the number of analytics newbies.

To me this should be no more than 20% of your time.

I expected finding data would be the biggest chunk, but was surprised that over 50% of my analyst connections using at least 40% of their time finding data.

If you have one day to answer a key business question, this means you are using your entire morning just finding the data.

When you get back from lunch you haven’t even started the actual analysis yet and the clock is ticking.

Data is based on a survey I sent to 3,000 of my LinkedIn connections who are either analysts or work closely with data and analysis.

Analytics Survey – DMAIPH conducts quarterly analytics surveys to collect data on current trends in analytics. We specialize in surveys that assess analytics culture and measuring how aligned an organization is to using data and analytics  in its decision-making. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out more about how DMAIPH can conduct surveys to help you assess the analytics culture in your business.