Most businesses are further behind than they think when it comes to data maturity and its role in their overall operations. Without proper data management and analysis, it can be difficult to make well-informed decisions that will help your business grow.
Additionally, the world is increasingly digital and without taming your data and understanding how to make your data work for you, it’s likely that your business will struggle to stay profitable in the coming years.
What is Data Maturity?
It is the ability of a company to use data effectively across all aspects of its business. Data maturity is the level of completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of data. It means you are using your data to understand what happened in the past and what will happen next.
There are three key areas of data maturity that businesses should focus on in order to improve their decision-making abilities: data collection, data management, and data analysis. Achieving data maturity requires a commitment from top management and a focus on the following key areas:
Data collection: Collecting accurate and timely data is the first step towards effective decision-making. Data should be collected from all relevant sources, including internal systems and external data providers. Some organizations struggle with managing unstructured data. Check out this article for more details.
Data management: Once data is collected, it must be managed effectively in order to be useful. This includes storing, organizing, and cleansing data so that it is ready for analysis. It sounds simple but this is far more than a technical exercise. Data management includes creating a data culture so those entering data or accessing data understand how that data is collected.
Data analysis: Data must be analyzed in order to extract actionable insights. This includes both descriptive (What happened?) and predictive (What will happen?) analysis. Data scientists can help with this as long as they are also intimately involved with key business stakeholders who are committed to the process.
Actionable insights: Insights from data analysis should be used to improve business performance. Most often organizations use various Business Intelligence tools for reporting on their data, but that is the tip of the iceberg. Actionable insights may involve changes to processes, products, or strategies.
If your business is not yet data-driven, now is the time to start maturing your data practices. The first step is to assess your current state of data maturity. This will help you identify areas where improvement is needed. Once you know where you need to focus your efforts, you can begin working towards a more mature, data driven process. To assess your current data maturity, take our Data Maturity Assessment to see how you stack up.
Why data maturity is important
Many businesses are further behind than they think when it comes to data maturity. Most do not even understand what’s possible these days when it comes to data management and analysis because technology has advanced so quickly.
Organizations often have limited resources or tools in place to properly manage and analyze their data. Without proper data management and analysis, it can be difficult to make well-informed decisions.
Data maturity is important to all businesses, especially those that are already data driven. Data driven businesses make decisions based on data analysis and findings. This enables them to effectively use data and make better decisions, faster.
These companies use data to stay ahead of their competition by relying on data to make decisions at all levels of the organization from strategic planning to daily operations. They also rely on accurate and timely data to make informed decisions about their products and services.
Companies with a high level of data maturity are able to properly manage and analyze data, making it easier to identify opportunities and threats. By improving data collection, management, analysis, and action, businesses can make decisions that will lead to improved performance.
Lastly, data-driven companies often have a higher degree of data maturity than their competitors. If your business is not yet data-driven, then you need to start focusing on data maturity if you want to stay competitive.
Why you're behind
There are several reasons why businesses may be behind on data maturity. One reason is that many businesses do not have the correct assets in place to properly manage and analyze their data. This includes having the right software and hardware as well as the necessary personnel in place to get the most out of your data. Businesses may not understand the importance of investing in these resources either and so budgets get cut year after year.
Another reason businesses may be behind on data maturity is because they do not have the right culture in place for embracing change. Many businesses are slow to adapt to new technologies or ways of doing things, which can hinder their ability to improve their data maturity. Leaders must clearly communicate the value of a data management program as they begin to roll out any changes.
Finally, the last reason some businesses may be behind on data maturity is because they do not have a clear understanding of what it is and how it can benefit their business. By taking the time to educate yourself on data maturity and its benefits, you can position your business for success. We can help! Take our data maturity assessment to see how you can improve your data maturity.
How to catch up
If your business is behind on data maturity, don’t panic! There are ways to catch up and start reaping the benefits of data-driven decision making.
Collect the Right Data
According to a Forrestor study, 67% of organizations need more data than their capabilities can provide, yet 70% are already bringing in data faster than they can process it, analyze it and take action on it.
The takeaway → You need to collect the right data, instead of collecting anything and everything. The right data will help you more quickly see the ROI of a data management program.
Big Data
One way to catch up is to focus on using big data. Big data is a term used for large data sets that can’t be processed using traditional computing methods. Big data can help businesses identify trends and patterns that would be otherwise difficult to find.
If you do not have large data sets currently, you can also supplement your first-party data with third-party data sets. This can be a great way to accelerate your insights.
Data Analytics
Another way to improve your data maturity is to use data analytics to improve your operations. Data analytics is the process of extracting insights from data sets. By analyzing past performance, businesses can make more informed decisions about the future. Data analytics can also help businesses identify areas where they can improve efficiency and save money.
This might look like using Business Intelligence or reporting /visualization tools to understand your data. The one trap you want to avoid is only reporting on events in the past. The more you mature as an organization the more you should be focusing on Predictive Analytics.
Machine Learning
You can also use machine learning to improve your operations. Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn on their own. By using machine learning, businesses can automate tasks and make better decisions based on previous data.
If you are ready to put Machine Learning to work in your business make sure you understand how Federated Machine Learning is changing the industry by allowing you to collect data at the source. This means you can skip the lengthy process to build a data lake before you start taking advantage of AI and Machine Learning.
Tools and Resources
Finally, make sure you have the right tools and resources in place to properly manage and analyze your data. This includes having the right software and hardware as well as the necessary personnel in place to get the most out of your data.
All of these methods allow leaders to use data maturity to improve their businesses. By using big data, data analytics, and machine learning, businesses can make well-informed decisions that will help them grow and succeed.
The team at BOSS AI is happy to help you better understand where you are today in the context of our Predictive Transformation ModelTM. More importantly we can help you figure out how to get to the next step as a means of maintaining your competitive advantage.
Tips for improving your business' data maturity
Improving your data maturity can seem daunting, but with the right tools and resources, it can be done. Here are a few tips to help you get started.
- Start by assessing your current state of data maturity. This will help you identify areas where improvement is needed.
- Once you know where you need to focus your efforts, you can begin working towards a more mature, data-driven process.
- Use big data to make better decisions.
- Use data analytics to improve your operations.
- Use machine learning to improve your operations.
- Make sure you have the right tools and resources in place.
- Finally, be sure to regularly test and evaluate your data-driven decisions to ensure that they are having the desired effect on your business.
By following these tips, you can improve your data maturity and give your business a competitive edge. Remember, data maturity is essential for businesses to be able to effectively compete in today’s marketplace.
Conclusion
Data maturity is the ability to use data effectively in order to make educated decisions and is essential for businesses to be able to effectively compete in today’s marketplace. By focusing on data collection and data management businesses can improve their decision-making abilities using tools such as big data, data analytics, and machine learning.
To learn where your company's data maturity currently stands, take the Data Maturity Assessment. This quiz will help you to understand your current state of data maturity and how you can improve. Have questions? Reach out to one of our DATA BOSSES!