Is Your Data Strategy Taking You on a Detour? Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Data control and informed decision-making are inseparable in today's hyper-competitive business landscape. However, the reality for many businesses is that managing vast amounts of disorganised information, grappling with access control complexities, and battling data silos can be a huge challenge, severely hindering business progress by stalling innovation and limiting growth.
This is where a well-defined Data Strategy becomes essential. A robust Data Strategy should act as your business's sat-nav, guiding you towards actionable insights while avoiding the common roadblocks and frustrating traffic jams that derail so many businesses' data journeys.
Are you genuinely confident that your current Data Strategy is steering you in the right direction? Or is it inadvertently forcing you down unnecessary detours, wasting valuable time and resources? Let's delve into some prevalent Data Strategy roadblocks and how to avoid them.
Challenge: Tech-Centric Approach
Focusing too much on the architectural side of the strategy, such as creating unnecessary drives with drives, can lead to organisations prioritising tech over the underlying business issues, such as access controls. IT departments drive the data strategy without sufficient input from business users, resulting in setups that may be technically strong but actually fail to address real business challenges and ultimately serve little purpose. These setups quickly become underutilised and frustrate users.
Solution: Prioritise Business Needs
Begin by conducting an in-depth analysis and identifying areas where greater data control could add value to the overall business needs. Involve your users in the process; they will be most affected by any changes, and any solution must meet their needs and requirements. Our clients have seen great success in running pilot groups to measure changes on a smaller scale before implementing them across the business.
Challenge: Lack of Long Term Planning
Often, Data Strategies are created with a short-term focus. Businesses that look for quick fixes to get them out of their current predicament and prioritise immediate ROI can end up overlooking the potential long-term cost of a Data Strategy. This oversight may result in the need to carry out expensive and disruptive system overhauls further down the line.
Solution: Think Bigger Picture
Before considering a Data Strategy, ensure that all costs are clearly laid out to key stakeholders. This way, the business can better budget and won't be blindsided by unexpected hidden costs. Consider leveraging cloud-based platforms like Google Cloud, which provide the flexibility to scale resources as needed. Regularly review your strategy to ensure it continues to meet your current and potential future business requirements.
Challenge: No Business Wide Data Focus
Businesses often fail to step back and see their Data Strategy as an opportunity to change the way they look at data going forward. Strategies are implemented without adequately communicating the impact on end-users or establishing clear expectations for data handling and adherence. Often, key stakeholders aren’t looped in and are unsure of the strategy the business is taking. This lack of communication can lead to resistance and inconsistent data practices throughout the organisation.
Solution: Create A Data-Centric Culture
See your Data Strategy as a way to change your business's data culture. Data-driven organisations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times as likely to retain customers, and 19 times as likely to be profitable as a result. Secure representation from diverse departments across the business, including key stakeholders, to ensure all perspectives are considered. Implement standardised practices and governance for storing, handling, and processing business data and clearly communicate these practices to all users. Clearly outlining how initiatives will support specific goals is crucial to ensuring the alignment of strategy. Highlight the critical role of data in informed decision-making, emphasising its importance to all employees.
Challenge: Lack Of Data Skills
Many businesses struggle to execute a data strategy effectively due to a lack of resources. This is often simply a time issue; businesses either can’t dedicate resources to creating an effective strategy, or they have the capacity, but their focus is on more pressing business issues.
Solution: Our Data Strategy Workshop
Working with a partner like Netpremacy will not only remove the cost of upskilling but also provide you with a wealth of knowledge to rely on. We will work closely with you and your team to understand your current data landscape and strategic goals, developing a customised plan to overcome any challenges you may encounter on the way to your data destination.
Embark On Your Data Journey With Us
It's important to remember that a Data Strategy is not a short-term fix; it's a journey, and seeing its full benefits takes time. It can also be quite complicated to know where to begin when building a strategy. Working with an experienced partner like Netpremacy, with a proven track record of helping businesses achieve their data goals, can ensure you stay on the optimal path.
If you want to find out more about our Data offerings, download our recent whitepaper, 'Do More With Your Data' written by our Head of Engineering, Tom Anderson, or speak to one of our data experts and embark on your Data Journey with us!
Why Netpremacy?
As a Google Partner, we are experts in all things Google Cloud. We help global companies transform and energise their business to gain a competitive edge. Trusted by trailblazers like Just Eat Takeaway and Morrisons, we build lasting partnerships with our customers to ensure their Google infrastructure develops as they do.
