But how can you give a use case for something you don’t know? They say “we want to launch products faster” or “we want faster FDA approvals on installs and products,” both of which involve aggregation of tremendous amounts of data. Our response: don’t focus on the first use case – look at all the other objectives you can achieve using this data.
The more you mash data, the more you find out, such as trends and correlations. You can even start making predictions using analytics, which can help identify areas to improve speed and efficiency.
But will they take into consideration all of the consequences? This upsurge in data volumes is leading to the creation of new job titles. I have seen “growth engineers” and “data scientists,” whose roles are to deploy algorithms to find correlations and insights.
But they can only be effective if they look at the big picture and get buy in from all disciplines – otherwise they are still isolated decision makers working on a plan that was designed to remove the very silos they have just recreated.
There are certainly a lot of algorithms out there that can solve single scenarios, but algorithms cannot add contextual or conceptual intelligence. This type of analysis and decision making must be done by a human. Which leads us neatly onto the next issue: do your people have the right skillset?
Organisations must manage people and train them so they can learn and collaborate with all this new cyber intelligence. They need to be able to ask “what do I need to know to make wise decisions?” as opposed to “what will the data tell me?”
So, my advice. Don’t implement technology for technology’s sake. Have a plan – have a few plans – and prepare to have some of them rejected.
Make sure phase one is not just to tick a box, but instead implemented to solve an issue or create the foundation to solve many others. Don’t get tempted by buzzwords – understand the benefits and ask what they can do for you.
Learn how to implement technology, taking into account that it changes every three to five years, and then balance this with the fact that us humans can take longer to adapt.
Think about scalability, upgrades, ease of use and migration. And once you have all these bases covered, your digital transformation should actually provide the springboard you are seeking.
