Why data analytics is business-imperative

Dubai - Sure, there's tonnes of data needs to be crunched, but harnessing it can make a huge difference

Imagine a world in which there were no business reception desks or enquiry counter: when you arrive for your business meeting, the directional signage welcomes you and guides you to your conference room, and when you go for your doctors' appointment, the room, lab and healthcare professionals are ready for you, and equipped with all your case files.
Data analytics enables a world as intuitive as this. It has moved data from a burden to an asset. The advantages in creating the framework in which data is appreciated and very much becomes the life blood of an organisation's operation are many, but the fact remains that the single biggest benefit is providing a new lease of life to swathes of data that were otherwise stored for regulatory or compliance reasons.
And this is not restricted to a purely commercial plane alone: possibly the biggest benefit strategic data analytics can bring is the ability to impact the experience of the end-user. This is today a priority not just for an aggressive and competitive consumer goods company, but also for governments and departments that seek to provide the best possible citizen experience.
Analysing government data on their interaction with citizenry can be a very illuminating exercise, as the simple act of connecting the dots from seemingly unrelated patterns or instances can provide the authorities with a key to unlock success. In one of our major regional cities, for instance, the authorities could uncover that traffic snarls can be avoided if the traffic authorities have access to data and plans of the municipality, the utilities provider, or even from the planning department.
According to the Worldwide Semiannual Big Data and Analytics Spending Guide from the International Data Corporation, worldwide revenues for big data and business analytics will grow more than $203 billion in 2020.
Shedding light on the regional perspective, according to Frost & Sullivan the GCC's big data and analytics market is likely to outpace the global market and reach $635.5 million in 2020.
The retail sector is possibly one of the early adopters of various new technologies that promise a transformed and memorable customer experience. With success based on footfall and walk-ins at high-street or mall outlets, what's to stop digital displays featuring a different range of products based on who is most likely to visit at the time? Tapping in to the larger demographic turn-out at the location, the retailers can easily alter their offering for the late-morning house-wife visiting, the early-evening college student group passing by, and the families that come by over the weekend. Building on the hospital experience outlined earlier, there are a number of strong examples of healthcare groups in the GCC region adopting focused data analytics to improve the patient experience.
According to Alpen Capital, the GCC healthcare market is projected to grow to $71.3 billion in 2020, generating an unprecedented amount of data, which will present great opportunity for businesses to develop the market further. For example, the days of patient history charts clipped to the end of the bed will soon be well in the past, as digital devices in the hands of doctors, nurses, and even lab technicians, allow all to access up-to-date data on patient history, medication, test results and even share the digital file with specialists or other referral hospitals. This also brings various allied players such as the insurance provider, the pharmaceutical companies, and more into the same "inner circle", enabling better information-sharing, quicker reactions to trends and even epidemics, and greater transparency for all.
In the travel and tourism industry, the global tourist's digital footprint is possibly the strongest source of actionable data for the entire industry, including hotels and resorts, airlines and other transportation providers, experiential providers like cruises, amusement parks, and even support industries like car rentals and travel insurance. With typical holiday seasons varying across the world based on weather, school calendars, religious festivals, and many more factors, we can actually look forward to a day when your travel consultant becomes a smart digital travel assistant that is able to find you the best experience and package based on your previous travels, your online reviews and feedback and even by the number of social posts that you have posted during the holiday or after.
The point behind illustrating the potential of data analytics for organisations of all sizes and shapes is that this can no longer be relegated to a pure IT-led decision. Since the organisation will actually benefit from slicing and dicing the data in multiple ways to make it relevant to various groups and divisions, the decision too needs to be a joint one and with the involvement and oversight of leadership.
After all, when it comes to a valuable asset of the organisation, it can't just be a free-for-all. Creating a strong data analytics environment needs to be driven from the top, with multiple stakeholders adding the layers of intelligence that actually make the actionable insights and patterns emerge. Essentially, you are taking the right steps to convert a data dump into a lake of hidden treasures for your organisation.
The writer is sales director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Dell EMC. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper's policy.