Keeping Up With Data #112
5 minutes for 5 hours’ worth of reading
When reading some of the market outlooks for 2023, you realise it’s anyone’s guess what the market has in store. Even the experts from the biggest banks can’t seem to agree on what’s coming. In all fairness to them, to quote Yogi Berra, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Scott Galloway predicts that the business story of 2023 will be recession. And he continues by saying that “The most consequential business strategy of 2023 won’t be AI or supply chain diversification, but being tough without being an asshole.” This might easily be a fitting New Year’s resolution of many executives.
I like to believe that in the face of an economic recession, companies are turning to data and analytics to stay afloat. But not just as a survival tactic — leveraging data allows businesses to find new sources of revenue, cut costs, and get a leg up on the competition.
With the power of data analysis, companies can get a deep understanding of their customers and adapt to rapidly shifting market conditions. It’s no wonder that data and analytics are becoming a necessity for companies looking to weather the economic storm.
We are already seeing private equity investors making sure they won’t sleep on the power of data — it could be the key to their portfolio companies’ future success.
With a lot (read: almost $2 trillion) of dry powder in the private equity industry, I’m looking forward to supporting our customers in many data due diligences, diagnostics, strategies, and deliveries.
When working on data initiatives in this new year, note the first two points in the cover image (coming from one of the articles mentioned below) and remember that the main question for data is: “How can data and analytics help you achieve your business goals?”
Today’s reading list looks at badly handled data breaches, attributes of a data leader, and crucial elements of data and analytics strategy.
- It’s all in the (lack of) details: 2022’s badly handled data breaches: Looking back is crucial for moving forward, and so we should not only read into predictions for 2023 written by every man and his dog, but also learn from the past year. Data security is an important topic as data breaches happen to many companies way too often threatening their intellectual property, credibility of services, and privacy of their customers. As the article begins: “Data breaches can be extremely harmful to organisations of all shapes and sizes — but it’s how these companies react to the incident that can deal their final blow.” Let’s learn from the examples of what not to do. (TechCrunch)
- The top 6 attributes of a data leader: The article asks, “What sets data leaders apart from the average data-aware professional?” One would expect variations of the evergreen answer advising to link data to business. But there are some truly inspirational tips. About rejecting the “Us vs. Them” mentality, encouraging collaboration, or advocating data in the boardroom. “Today’s data leaders are stepping up and using data to drive change in their organizations and in society at large. No longer acting as gatekeepers, today’s change-makers are securing C-suite buy-in to build a data-driven culture.” (ThoughSpot)
- Does Your Data & Analytics Strategy Have These 10 Crucial Elements? The article mentions a statistic from McKinsey that only 30% of organisations align their data strategy with their organisational strategy. And concludes: “By implication, 70% of leaders are burning money in the name of data.” How to beat the odds? Ganes Kesari shares his ten critical elements of an effective data strategy framework. He also warns that an effective stategy needs to be paired with tight execution. Using the words of the famed military strategist Sun Tzu, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” (Forbes)
Keeping up with data is easier than catching up. Happy New Year!
