The advent of low-code, no-code app and software development has enabled rapid, innovative changes to all types of development projects and that new environment is evident in Modern Business Intelligence (BI) and Augmented Analytics products and solutions.
When a business decides to undertake a data democratization initiative, improve data literacy and create a role for Citizen Data Scientists, the management team often assumes that business users will be eager to participate, and that assumption can cause these initiatives to fail.
These days, most people understand the term Natural Language Processing (NLP). It has been around a while, and represents perhaps the most significant information tool in the past century.
Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) have unlocked a vast library of knowledge, making it accessible to the average person, requiring no significant technical skills, and leveling the playing field for millions of people, seeking to learn and understand the world.
‘NLP search technology significantly simplifies the user experience and encourages team members to learn and incorporate augmented analytics into their daily activities.’
Just a few years ago, Gartner predicted that, ‘50% of analytical queries will be generated via search, NLP or voice, or will be automatically generated.’ Today, this prediction is a reality.
When an enterprise wishes to implement augmented analytics and business intelligence, and make these tools available to its business user community, it must select a solution that uses natural language processing (NLP) search capabilities to allow business users with average technical skills to gather and analyze data and achieve results. Without these simple tools, the enterprise cannot ensure user adoption of the solution.
Natural Language Processing Search Analytics (NLP) is crucial component to search analytics in that it allows business users to perform complex searches without endless clicks, coded queries, or complex navigation and commands. Users can access and view clear, concise answers and analysis quickly and easily, leveraging a familiar Google-type interface to compose and enter a question using common language.
When you choose Augmented Analytics with machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), your users can enjoy a self-serve environment that is easy and intuitive, and will increase user adoption, data democratization, and return on investment (ROI).
NLP search technology significantly simplifies the user experience and encourages team members to learn and incorporate augmented analytics into their daily activities. Finding information is easy! Let’s suppose a team member wants to understand the trends in regional bakery sales. With NLP, the user can simply ask, ‘how many bakery products were sold in the Southwest and Southeast regions in 2023?’
Natural Language Processing (NLP) and search capability allows users to avoid scrolling through menus and navigation. The user only has to enter a simply worded search query, and the system will translate the query, and return the results in natural language using an appropriate form, e.g., visualization, tables, numbers or descriptions. There is no advanced training required. Users can analyze data and receive results in a way that is meaningful to them.
The benefits of augmented analytics using natural language processing (NLP) enable swift, easy searching and allows business users to create context-rich searches that provide in-depth information and concise results and can be used to solve problems, identify opportunities, spot trends and patterns and present data and recommendations. There is no need to request reports or information from IT, business analysts or data scientists. The business user has the tools and the capability to get results when and how they need the information.
‘Just a few years ago, Gartner predicted that, ‘50% of analytical queries will be generated via search, NLP or voice, or will be automatically generated.’ Today, this prediction is a reality.’
To find out more about Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning and NLP Search Analytics, Contact Us. Discover the power of Augmented Analytics, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Read our free article, ‘Why is Natural Language Processing Important to Enterprise Analytics?’
When a business is considering a business intelligence or analytics solution, it is important to recognize that today’s solutions are very different than the solutions of the past. Not only do they include more analytical techniques and features, but they have come a long way in providing access to sophisticated analytics for the average enterprise team member.
Harvard Business Review Analytics Service reports that
a) businesses can substantially improve business performance by giving frontline workers modern self-service analytics tools to enable fast intelligent action and,
b) not all self-service analytics provide this effective approach.
The Harvard Business Review Analytics Service surveyed nearly 500 executives and found that they reported significant performance improvement when they empowered frontline workers with augmented analytics. More than one-third of those surveyed noted improvement in customer and employee engagement and in product and service quality.
While some businesses may still be using business intelligence and analytics that are designed for data scientists and IT professionals, most of those are actively working to upgrade and/or migrate to augmented analytics and solutions that are designed for self-serve business user access.
Here’s why:
When the business is ready to acquire augmented analytics or to upgrade from existing, more restrictive solutions designed for professional analytical resources, it is important to choose the right solution – one with sophisticated tools that are presented in an intuitive user interface with auto-suggestions and recommendations to assist business users, and ample personalization of dashboards and reports.
With the right IT consulting partner, you can select and implement an Augmented Analytics Solution with business intelligence (BI) and advanced capabilities, and ensure that every user can leverage these tools, no matter their skillset or technical capabilities. Explore our free white paper, ‘A Roadmap To ROI And User Adoption Of Augmented Analytics And BI Tools.’
When the business undertakes a Mobile BI initiative, it must plan carefully to ensure success, achieve rapid return on investment (ROI) and achieve low total cost of ownership (TCO).
There are four primary goals of this exercise:
‘Be sure that the mobile business intelligence solution you choose supports a seamless user experience, and allows users to easily see dashboards, reports etc.’
To achieve these goals, you must assess existing workflow and business processes and ensure that users can incorporate mobile business intelligence within team tasks and activities, that IT can support the environment and that managers can make the best use of the data presented by the team.
Review and Address Culture and Workflow – Take a look at a) the technical skills and technology use of your users, managers and executives, and understand how and when they use data. How is data used (if at all) to make decisions, or gain approval? In order to make the best use of Mobile BI, you will want to integrate this solution into the day-to-day process, and be sure that there is an access loop for executives and managers to receive and review data from users.
Establish Objectives and Metrics – We discussed the fact that you must understand your requirements, but you should also use those requirements to define objectives for the project and to set metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will tell you that the users are leveraging the mobile business intelligence solution, and that the data produced is having a positive impact on organizational goals. Be sure to create a review process for metrics, so that you can identify trends and modify metrics and processes to adapt to change.
Review Data Accessibility and Quality – Ensure that your users have access to accurate data. Do you have a process in place to allow for data gathering, cleansing and validation? Have you eliminated redundant or duplicate records? Is the data you wish to use in Mobile BI easily integrated and accessible? Your users will not want to go to another source to get information so, if you want them to use Mobile BI tools, you must make the right information available to them within the Mobile BI environment.
Review the Need for User Training – Even when your users have access to most intuitive solutions, you may wish to have a simple training session to be sure that all users understand a) what is expected of them, b) how to use the solution most effectively and c) how to get help if they have questions or issues.
Reports and Visualization – Be sure that the mobile business intelligence solution you choose supports a seamless user experience, and allows users to easily see dashboards, reports etc. so that they can incorporate data and reporting into their staff reports, their meetings, and their recommendations to management without expensive, time-consuming report customization or custom visualization designs.
User and Data Volume – Be sure that you plan for expansion of the mobile BI solution. As you add departments, divisions, user groups and additional data sources, you will want to ensure that your devices, network, and mobile BI solution can support the additional load, and still perform well.
The Data-Driven Organization – It is all well and good to encourage your users to work with data, to analyze information and use that information to present ideas and solutions to management, but if the executive team or the middle managers do not accept and reward the use of data in decision-making, the mobile BI solution will be just another toy. Staff assessments and career evaluations should support fact-based decision making and discourage guesswork and opinion as a means to drawing conclusions. Team members and managers should solicit and encourage the use of data during staff meetings and to support reports and decisions.
‘Assess existing workflow and business processes and ensure that users can incorporate mobile business intelligence within team tasks and activities, that IT can support the environment and that managers can make the best use of the data presented by the team.’
In this article, we have discussed the importance of successful integration of Mobile BI into business practices.
For a comprehensive discussion of Mobile BI and related topics, read our article: ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
In this article, we have defined mobile business intelligence (BI), and discussed the benefits of this type of solution, Contact Us to find out how Mobile Business Intelligence solutions can help your business achieve objectives, and explore the potential of Augmented Analytics Products. Discover the features of Business Intelligence and Reporting, and Download A Free Trial Of Smarten Analytics Software.
Explore our complementary articles on Mobile BI: ‘Choose The Right Mobile BI Vendor To Ensure Success,’ ‘How Can Mobile BI Help Your Business?’ ‘Ensure User Adoption of Mobile BI,’ and ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
Today’s Mobile BI applications are more advanced, flexible and interactive and designed to respond to business user needs and expectations. These tools are more sophisticated, without requiring the skills of a data scientist, and more dynamic without requiring complex customization, and they provide more in-depth predictive analytical functionality and more interactive features. They operate seamlessly on all manner of devices without compromised displays or performance.
‘To ensure that your users will adopt the Mobile BI solution, you want to engage them.’
But access does not always ensure user adoption. When planning a Mobile BI deployment, there are factors you should include in your requirements planning and assessment to ensure you are taking user adoption into consideration.
Ease of Use and Intuitive Interface – What factors will determine the successful user adoption of these tools? Do you require that the solution be personalized to meet your business user needs or the needs of the organization? Can a business user with average skills navigate the solution and get results?
User Training – Does the prospective vendor provide support for roll-out, user training and best practices to enable user adoption and ensure Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) goals?
Collaboration – When a business user is working in a silo, or when business users do not all have access to the same information, they cannot collaborate. Creative, innovative solutions and insightful decisions only happen when a business team, management team or other department, entity or group has access to tools that allow them to share, report, create reports, and present information in a way that enables collaboration.
Data Democratization – The trend toward Citizen Data Scientists has gained in popularity. As business users transition from isolated team members into Citizen Data Scientists, they need access to sophisticated BI tools that offer clear, concise results in an easy-to-use interface, with features that enable team members to quickly gather and analyze data and share that data with the team. The days of complex BI tools managed by IT teams and Data Scientists are over! While Data Scientists work with crucial data to provide strategic direction, business users with access to self-serve BI tools can perform day-to-day analytics and find the information that will help them complete tasks and make better decisions.
Data Literacy – Today’s businesses must do more with less. That means that every resource, every skill, and every piece of knowledge must be leveraged to produce results. When business users gain literacy in data analytics, they can combine career knowledge, industry skills and business experience with data insights to produce better results. Providing the right Mobile BI tools to business users, takes the guesswork and frustration out of data analytics and ensures user adoption and improved data literacy.
Metrics to Show Usefulness in Tasks and Processes – Use what you have learned about business user frustrations, workflow, gaps, delays etc., to develop use cases and metrics that will reveal how fast things can be done, how mobile BI tools can support existing business processes, and how fact-based decision making can reduce re-work and encourage collaboration, etc.
Champions and Power Users – In every enterprise, there are people who love technology, people who are curious and love to learn, and people who are power users of devices, software and tools that will make them a) look good to their managers, b) develop a reputation as a leader, and c) grow in knowledge and skill. Use these champions and power users to find out what they know about user frustrations, and to educate them and solicit their help in user adoption. This group may represent the first roll-out and, by capturing feedback and results from that group, you can develop an approach to the user group at large.
Businesses often make technology decisions without consulting business users and they suffer the consequences. You can spend a lot of money on technology, take the time to plan for implementation and roll-out and then face resistance from business users and that resistance can often result in poor solution adoption and poor return on investment (ROI). To ensure that your users will adopt the solution, you want to engage them. Whether you are expanding the use of BI tools to include Mobile BI, or beginning your business intelligence journey, you can benefit from the feedback your users provide.
Find out what gaps, delays or issues they have in their workflow. If they are satisfied with status quo, ask them to make a wish list to make their lives even easier, and see how you can satisfy those things. With so many employees working remotely and taking on new responsibilities, it is likely that they will embrace the idea of additional access to information. Some users will see analytics as taking on new responsibilities and they will say they are already overloaded. Whenever a business wishes to change the way things are done, it will face resistance. The key is to show users how these new tools will make their lives easier, and that requires listening and research.
‘When planning a Mobile BI deployment, there are factors you should include in your requirements planning and assessment to ensure you are taking user adoption into consideration.’
There will always be a small group of team members who hold out and refuse to adopt new tools or processes but if a business can capture the majority of the team, and the team begins to use the tools to their benefit, even those hold-outs will eventually adapt and adopt!
For a comprehensive discussion of Mobile BI and related topics, read our article: ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
Contact Us to find out how Mobile Business Intelligence solutions can help your business achieve objectives, and explore the potential of Augmented Analytics Products. Discover the features of Business Intelligence And Reporting, and Download A Free Trial Of Smarten Analytics Software.
Explore our complementary articles on Mobile BI: ‘Choose The Right Mobile BI Vendor To Ensure Success,’ ‘How Can Mobile BI Help Your Business?’ ‘Include Mobile BI Tools In Business Workflow,’ and ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
Recent Surveys And Statistics Published By Mordor Intelligence, reveal that the fastest growing market for Mobile BI is in the Asia Pacific and the largest market is in North America. The market is forecasted to achieve nearly a 23% growth over the next three years. With the introduction of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, as well as data visualization tools, designed for charting, dashboards and performance scorecards. The emergence of Big Data and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has become popular as users share, communicate and collaborate using cloud-based platforms and networks. These surveys reveal that eCommerce operation are rapidly becoming a primary market for mobile BI demand, followed closely by the banking sector. The popularity of Mobile BI usage has grown exponentially in many business sectors and industries including:
There are many Self Service Analytics providers in the mobile business intelligence market, and when a business considers solutions, it must carefully review the options, solutions, vendor services and reputation. In this article, we will discuss some of the primary considerations for features and functionality, support, upgrades, technology, etc., and we will discuss some of the possible issues and challenges.
‘Your business should be aware that there are some challenges with mobile business intelligence solutions. Be sure you review prospective solutions to ensure that there are no gaps, issues or shortcomings.’
Here are some important features to consider when reviewing Self Service Data Analytics mobile BI tools:
A full suite of self-service analytics capabilities, mobile BI tools, modules, features and functionality is critical, but it is also crucial that your business look at its own requirements and select a solution that suits your needs.
What follows is a short list of considerations to include in your vendor and business intelligence product review so that you can match your selection to your needs:
Current Solutions (if any) vs. Requirements – If you have a business intelligence or augmented analytics solution, your team should assess how well this solution is meeting requirements. Where are the gaps, does the solution help your team meet goals and objectives? If you want to expand your business intelligence solution to include mobile BI, will the existing BI tools integrate with a mobile solution? If you are new to the business intelligence market, your requirements will be very different. Your team must assess your need for augmented analytics and mobile access, including all the issues and requirements noted below.
Business Users and Current Culture – Document the groups and individuals that will use the mobile BI tool. How many licenses or users will you need to register? What are the skills of these users? Do you have power users that can lead the charge? How will you roll-out and deploy the solution (by region, by department, in controlled user groups) to gain momentum while controlling implementation and analyzing success. What do you need to consider to accommodate existing business processes and workflows? How will mobile delivery change business processes?
Ease of Use and Intuitive Interface – What factors will determine the successful user adoption of these tools? Do you require that the solution be personalized to meet your business user needs or the needs of the organization? Can a business user with average skills navigate the solution and get results?
Technology and Integration Needs – What data repositories, current BI tools or analytics, will you integrate and make available to users? Do you need to upgrade hardware, networks, etc. to accommodate this project?
Finally, your business should be aware that there are some challenges with mobile business intelligence solutions. Be sure you review prospective solutions to ensure that there are no gaps, issues or shortcomings in these areas:
Does the prospective solution provide administrative tools to ensure quality and governance access for your IT team? Can they easily define access, manage dashboards, etc.
In an effort to provide accessible, productive tools, businesses can sometimes expose themselves to legal risk, or privacy concerns in the form of data theft, hacking or data loss. Be sure that the vendor you choose has a demonstrable multi-layered security approach that limits access to data that a user needs, and provides controls to mitigate the risk of external threats.
To be useful, mobile BI tools must be accessible. That means that the solution must have reliable data connectivity and reliable performance, refresh rates, data transfer and display, data caching and compression, etc.
Does the prospective vendor provide support for roll-out, user training and best practices to enable user adoption and ensure Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) goals?
The best augmented analytics solution will provide Mobile BI Tools that are flexible enough to adapt to your needs, without expensive customization and time-consuming fixes.
‘There are many Self Service Analytics providers in the mobile business intelligence market, and when a business considers solutions, it must carefully review the options, solutions, vendor services and reputation.’
For a comprehensive discussion of Mobile BI and related topics, read our article: ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
In this article, we have the factors involved in selecting a mobile business intelligence (BI) solution. Contact Us to find out how Mobile Business Intelligence solutions can help your business achieve objectives, and explore the potential of Augmented Analytics Products. Discover the features of Business Intelligence And Reporting, and Download A Free Trial Of Smarten Analytics Software.
Explore our complementary articles on Mobile BI: ‘Ensure User Adoption Of Mobile BI,’ ‘How Can Mobile BI Help Your Business?’ ‘Include Mobile BI Tools In Business Workflow,’ and ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
Gartner defines the field of analytics and business intelligence technology as, ‘an umbrella term that includes the applications, infrastructure and tools, and best practices that enable access to and analysis of information to improve and optimize decisions and performance.’
In order to understand the evolution and importance of Mobile Business Intelligence, we must go beyond the technically specific definition, to talk about the concepts and the purpose of Mobile Business Intelligence Solutions, and how mobile business intelligence tools can help your business become more productive and support success.
‘Providing the right Mobile BI tools to business users, takes the guesswork and frustration out of data analytics and ensures user adoption and improved data literacy.’
While many businesses today have recognized the value of self-serve analytics, they may a) not yet have implemented augmented analytics within the organization, b) have implemented business intelligence (BI) and analytics within the walls of the office environment, or c) be planning to expand self-service analytics to include mobile business intelligence mobile apps that will provide access for business users working in any environment.
Here we will discuss the benefits of self service analytics as they relate to the Mobile Business Intelligence environment. Here are just some of the benefits of mobile business intelligence:
Accessibility – When business users have access to real-time data, and insights into results, challenges and opportunities, they can mitigate risk, adapt to change and answer questions from customers, team members, managers and others. Desktop and enterprise BI tools require users to be in the office, which limits access to tools and information for remote users or those who are often on the road, working at home or visiting customers.
Adaptability – If the recent global pandemic taught businesses anything, it highlighted the need to adapt to change, and to establish and sustain tools, business processes and an environment that can support users and the business no matter the situation. The evolution of Mobile BI tools has allowed businesses and their team members to work from anywhere, to remain connected with access to valuable data insights and to keep the business moving with timely approvals, decisions and completion of tasks and activities.
Productivity – If there is one thing business users and their managers hate more than anything, it is the inability to complete tasks or the fear that a task will be completed without all the required information. Team members who are out of touch can hold up the completion of a task or make the wrong decision, because they do not have access to the right information and/or they lack the tools to share information with other users.
Collaboration – When a business user is working in a silo, or when business users do not all have access to the same information, they cannot collaborate. Creative, innovative solutions and insightful decisions only happen when a business team, management team or other department, entity or group has access to tools that allow them to share, report, create reports, and present information in a way that enables collaboration.
Data Democratization – The trend toward Citizen Data Scientists has gained in popularity. As business users transition from isolated team members into Citizen Data Scientists, they need access to sophisticated BI tools that offer clear, concise results in an easy-to-use interface, with features that enable team members to quickly gather and analyze data and share that data with the team. The days of complex BI tools managed by IT teams and Data Scientists are over! While Data Scientists work with crucial data to provide strategic direction, business users with access to self-serve BI tools can perform day-to-day analytics and find the information that will help them complete tasks and make better decisions.
Data Literacy – Today’s businesses must do more with less. That means that every resource, every skill, and every piece of knowledge must be leveraged to produce results. When business users gain literacy in data analytics, they can combine career knowledge, industry skills and business experience with data insights to produce better results. Providing the right Mobile BI tools to business users, takes the guesswork and frustration out of data analytics and ensures user adoption and improved data literacy
Time to Market – Your business must quickly adapt to change, understand competitive initiatives, shifting customer buying behavior, supply and demand challenges and more. With the right mobile business intelligence tools, users can discover the hidden nuggets of information that will help the business move forward quickly. They can answer prospective customer questions to close an order, and explore product bundling opportunities, and new product possibilities, or analyze and suggest changes to supply chain flow or production to ensure swift, reliable time to market.
Fact-Based Decision-Making – Mobile Business Intelligence solutions provide dashboards, reporting, analytical tools and other features on-the-go, so users can explore data, drill-down to find the root cause of a problem, perform searches using natural language processing (NLP) search analytics, visualize data, share data and make confident, data-driven decisions from any location.
‘When business users have access to real-time data, and insights into results, challenges and opportunities, they can mitigate risk, adapt to change and answer questions from customers, team members, managers and others.’
For a comprehensive discussion of Mobile BI and related topics, read our article: ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
In this article, we have defined mobile business intelligence (BI), and discussed the benefits of this type of solution, Contact Us to find out how Mobile Business Intelligence solutions can help your business achieve objectives, and explore the potential of Augmented Analytics Products. Discover the features of Business Intelligence And Reporting, and Download A Free Trial Of Smarten Analytics Software.
Explore our complementary articles on Mobile BI: ‘Choose The Right Mobile BI Vendor To Ensure Success,’ ‘Ensure User Adoption Of Mobile BI,’ ‘Include Mobile BI Tools In Business Workflow,’ and ‘What Is Mobile Business Intelligence (BI), How Can It Help Your Business, And What You Should Know Before You Decide.’
If your business has embraced the Citizen Data Scientist approach and are trying to get started with your initiative, you want to plan for success.
Gartner predicts that, ‘…automation of data science tasks will enable citizen data scientists to produce a higher volume of advanced analysis, than specialized data scientists.’
But if you are to achieve the results this prediction promises, you must ensure that your business has the expertise and the resources to plan for, execute, monitor and upgrade your environment so that you can achieve your goals now and in the future.
‘Be sure the solution you choose has all the features you need and will be easy for your users to learn and adopt. Look for a comprehensive solution suite.’
For those businesses that are planning a Citizen Data Scientist initiative, it is wise to choose an IT consulting partner. You don’t have to go it alone! The right partner can help you with strategies and walk you through the process to build a new foundation and to support your future growth and adapt to changing market environs.
Choose an IT consultant that can provide data science, analytics, technology, and soft leadership skills to ensure that your project is well staffed, and that you have what you need 24/7. The right IT consultant will have a plan to keep the augmented analytics products evergreen and grow with the field of technology and innovation.
Choose an IT consultant that can help you plan and implement your Citizen Data Scientist initiative with workshops, webinars, and other resources designed to jump start data democratization, help you achieve appropriate data governance and do it all with minimal training and time investment. Services should include onsite, offsite or hybrid delivery, requirements planning, project management, architecture and data management, data science support, business user support, training.
Be sure the IT consultant you choose has a wealth of experience and references and a proven track record. Compare their services, fees and staffing capabilities to other vendors and consultants and choose wisely. You will want an IT consultant that can:
Not all augmented analytics solutions are equal! Be sure the solution you choose has all the features you need and will be easy for your users to learn and adopt. Look for a comprehensive solution suite that includes:
‘If you are to achieve the results this prediction promises, you must ensure that your business has the expertise and the resources to plan for, execute, monitor and upgrade your environment so that you can achieve your goals now and in the future.’
The right augmented analytics solution can make or break your Citizen Data Scientist program. Your users do not want a solution that is hard to learn or takes too much time. They want something that will support their needs and make their job easier – a solution that will give them clear, concise data without the need for advanced skills or knowledge. If you provide them with tools that are easy to learn, and a clear path to complete their transition to Citizen Data Scientist, they are more likely to embrace the concept and support the initiative, and your business will achieve the goals it has established.
For a detailed discussion of Citizen Data Scientists and related topics, read our article: ‘What Is A Citizen Data Scientist, What Is Their Role, What Are The Benefits Of Citizen Data Scientists…And More!’
Contact Us to find out how augmented analytics Technology can support your enterprise, and ensure analytical clarity and results. Discover the next level of Self-Serve Analytics and explore online Citizen Data Scientist Training and the features and modules of a seamless, sophisticated, easy-to-use augmented analytics solution to see how your business can use analytics to achieve its goals. Explore our complementary articles on Citizen Data Scientists: ‘The Importance And Benefits Of A Citizen Data Scientist Initiative,’ ‘What Is A Citizen Data Scientist And How Has Their Role Changed?’ ‘Planning And Preparing For A Citizen Data Scientist Initiative,’ and ‘What Is A Citizen Data Scientist, What Is Their Role, What Are The Benefits Of Citizen Data Scientists…And More!’
The term, ‘Citizen Data Scientist’ has been around since 2016, when the world-renowned technology research firm, Gartner, coined the phrase. Whether you want to know more about the concept, understand the concept and would like to know if your business can leverage this approach to improve its market position and customer visibility, or you have embraced the Citizen Data Scientist approach and are looking for ways to expand and refine the concept within your own business environment, we are here to help.
As Gartner research states, ‘Early adopters of augmented analytics have the potential to realize more strategic and differentiating business benefits from their analytics investments than those who wait until these technologies are widely adopted.’
One of the most important aspects of any new, large scale initiative, is preparation and when it comes to the Citizen Data Scientist approach, preparation is equally important. Let’s look at some of the primary factors and considerations you must include in your planning process.
‘Will you deploy the augmented analytics solution across the entire enterprise at once, or will you roll it out by division, department, location, etc.? Who will be in charge of the deployment?’
Look at your current technology and all the places your data resides (data warehouses, the cloud (private or public), best-of-breed software, legacy software, ERP, CRM, HR, SCM, and other focused solutions that support a particular division, team or department. You will want to integrate data from all possible sources in order to give your users the information they need to perform analytics.
Work with your IT team, and (if you have already chosen an IT consultant) with your advisors to analyze the technology and infrastructure and establish a plan of attack. Consider the network, hardware and software, and decide whether you will want Embedded BI within any popular software solution to allow users to leverage a single sign-on environment to access data and analyze it all in one place.
Review business processes, workflow, approval loops etc., and see where you can gain advantage by including analytics and technology to improve productivity and the quality and speed of decisions.
Management and/or IT cannot plan for and execute this type of change alone. You will need to understand how cascading analytics throughout the organization will impact your users, your customers and others. Establish a team that includes representatives from the various functions, levels and areas within the enterprise.
Listen to their concerns and address those concerns with an appropriate plan for deployment, training, ongoing support, etc. Otherwise, you are unlikely to succeed. User adoption is important but you can also use this time to identify and highlight those areas where you can find opportunities and thereby improve the success metrics and outcomes you hope to achieve.
Choosing the right augmented analytics and business intelligence (BI) solution will drive success of a Citizen Data Scientist initiative. These solutions are key to helping you achieve your goals and to supporting your business users as they make the transition to Citizen Data Scientists. Look for a full suite of features and functionality to support your users.
Not all augmented analytics solutions are equal! Be sure the solution you choose has all the features you need and will be easy for your users to learn and adopt. Look for a comprehensive solution suite that includes:
Will you deploy the augmented analytics solution across the entire enterprise at once, or will you roll it out by division, department, location, etc.? Who will be in charge of the deployment? Your team should include representatives from the various groups that have a vested interest in the outcome. When you choose an IT consultant, they can help you plan for and execute your strategy so that it is successful and you are not overwhelmed.
Depending on the solution you choose, you will have to consider citizen data scientist training. While there are citizen data scientist certification courses, if you choose the right augmented analytics solution you are not likely to need this type of training but, rather a simple introduction that will explain the new role, how to work with and collaborate with data scientists and IT and how to use the augmented analytics solution to get the information the business user needs in a way that is meaningful to them.
‘One of the most important aspects of any new, large scale initiative, is preparation and when it comes to the Citizen Data Scientist approach, preparation is equally important.’
For a detailed discussion of Citizen Data Scientists and related topics, read our article: ‘What Is A Citizen Data Scientist, What Is Their Role, What Are The Benefits Of Citizen Data Scientists…And More!’
Contact Us to find out how augmented analytics Technology can support your enterprise, and ensure analytical clarity and results. Discover the next level of Self-Serve Analytics and explore online Citizen Data Scientist Training and the features and modules of a seamless, sophisticated, easy-to-use augmented analytics solution to see how your business can use analytics to achieve its goals. Explore our complementary articles on Citizen Data Scientists: ‘The Importance And Benefits Of A Citizen Data Scientist Initiative,’ ‘What Is A Citizen Data Scientist And How Has Their Role Changed?’ ‘Engage A Skilled IT Partner And Achieve Citizen Data Scientist Success,’ and ‘What Is A Citizen Data Scientist, What Is Their Role, What Are The Benefits Of Citizen Data Scientists…And More!’
