Important Analytic Applications
By Randy Frey, Gartner
Defining the relative importance of different elements of an organization’s strategy is a necessary first step to prioritizing investments, said Gareth Herschel, Gartner research director and lead analyst on the use of analytics to drive improved business performance in the area of customer relationships.
“The temptation for most organizations when presented with a series of valid options is to choose ‘E: All of the Above,’” said Mr. Herschel in this morning’s presentation “The Most Important Analytic Applications for Your Most Important Business Applications.”
“This is why senior management involvement and project sponsorship is so critical, to ensure that the finite amount of organizational resource can be effectively allocated where they will have the most impact, instead of spread thinly across the organization and so diluted into meaninglessness,” he said.
Mr. Herschel outlined a four-step approach: set a strategy, learn from the best, understand the most important attributes when evaluating analytic applications, and guarantee success by avoiding the biggest pitfalls.
He presented three imperatives: establish the correct metrics, properly integrate analytic processes, and prepare for business process change.
“Although few analytical vendors can provide a complete range of analytical capability, and the skill sets required for good analysis may be distributed across the organization, establishing an integrated framework for analysis is essential,” he said.
Mr. Herschel said that lack of skills is the biggest impediment for enterprises seeking to improve their analysis. “A key requirement for enterprises seeking to gain ‘flexibility’ is to ensure that their ability to manage process flexibility equals their ability to determine what variability should exist within the process,” he added.
Filed under: Sessions
