Consumption-Based Forecasting and Planning

CHAPTER 3Why Data and Analytics Are Important

The digital economy is providing companies with unlimited possibilities to create value across the entire organization. Data and analytics have become the primary driver of business organizations with the potential for real-time analytics-driven decision making. It is a significant part of every decision that companies consider before taking actions. However, for many organizations the ability to “think data” and “act analytically” is still a challenge. The transition to a data-driven organization requires data and analytics leaders, such as chief analytics officers (CAOs), CEOs, and CIOs to elevate data and develop analytics strategies, which requires a vision to advance new business problem solving across the entire company. An analytics strategy and vision significantly impacts the work of data and analytics teams and the organization's competencies to solve challenges caused by unexpected disruptions. It requires a corporate cultural shift in philosophy. As data and analytics mature within organizations, the positive returns on their investments will become more evident. Nevertheless, data and analytics leaders must adopt new disciplines and technologies to solve the challenges of data collection, processing, and storage before they can drive business value across the entire organization. As is well known, customer experiences are all connected by data and enabled by analytics.

Advancements in analytics have ignited renewed ...