Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Art of
the Possible
How to create
value from
your different
data sources
Preface
23%
As the ancient Chinese proverb says, the hardest part of the thousand
mile journey is the first step. There is no more daunting journey than a
mountainous shifting landscape that grows bigger by the hour. Yet, that
is an accurate summary of the task involved in managing your data and
getting the fullest, most up to date and informed intelligence possible.
Having managed and analyzed data for the best part of a decade, Rosslyn
Analytics has seen the best and worst of practices and absorbed the lessons,
so it can help companies maximize their application of information and
intelligence throughout the organization.
All organizations run on data, but their ability to successfully exploit it is
dependent on many variables, such as data quality, access to information,
timeliness and relevance. Though all organizations have a common
heritage in their reliance on data, the way they plan, adopt and use data
varies dramatically.
We believe that the old fashioned, non-scientific approach to data is akin
to the dietary ignorance that impeded the growth of previous generations.
The lack of understanding of the potency of data, and its ability to invigorate
every organ of the organization is symptomatic of a wider malaise.
In the next sections, we will explore these themes and create a road map
for the journey to invigoration. In doing so, you will be able to ensure
that your organization will not become one of the 33% of Fortune 100
organizations Gartner estimates will experience an information crisis
by 2017 due to their inability to effectively value, govern and trust their
enterprise data.
Hugh Cox
Chief Data Officer
Rosslyn Analytics
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Business and technology leaders often fail to question the importance of data or even why they
should implement a data management program. However, there is a gap in perception and reality
of best practice and what is going on in the business today. In other words, many theories so few
practical examples.
What is missing is HOW to put in place a plan of action. A successful plan only comes from
knowing the value of data, as it will enable organizations to prioritize resources and investments.
This paper is a first-of-its-kind. Unlike McKinsey, we dont estimate the theoretical value of
big data in the pharmaceutical industry, for example. That wont solve your immediate problem
of reducing the cost of drug research and development, or improving your ability to mitigate
supply chain risks.
This paper has been designed to serve as a reference guide to help you make important decisions;
those where you are not sure where to find the answer in all the data your organization currently
has but isnt fully using or exploiting.
This paper will also come in handy when you want to tackle a specific business problem or explore
a potential market opportunity; as youll be able to discover new insights and solutions that arise
from the marrying of different data sources together.
Value of data
Employee data
+
=
Salary benchmarks
Effectively recruit
and retain talent
To help make the meaning and value of data easy to understand, and to make it personally
relevant to you, we compare data to food groups. There are, after all, similarities. You sometimes
need a nutritionist (or doctor!) to help understand what to eat and when in order
to perform in a manner that suits your lifestyle and goals.
All organizations (whether small to medium sized businesses or global pharmaceutical giants)
must be sustained and fortified by a constant intake of data. It has to be useful and in the right
proportions. The intelligence each needs differs, but the requirement for a balanced diet unifies
all organizations. No matter how many suppliers, products or customers they have and in what
proportion, they will still need some combination of the six major data food groups: customer,
employee, product, financial, spend and supply chain data.
The devil, however, is in the detail. This white paper is intended to explain the most important
general concepts underpinning the Value of Data, and provide a framework by which you can
plan and execute business and data strategies. This paper will provide a start point for a planned,
sensible data intake and a course of invigorating exercises that will enable all companies to work
off that information, keeping the enterprise lean, agile and healthy.
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Problem Definition
Value of data
Product data
+
=
Commodity prices
Improve profit
margins by leveraging
fluctuations
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44%
This exemplifies how company data strategy can go off course, as goals are hastily set without
understanding and creating the alignment of the business to information. This guidance can
only come from the understanding and management of data with desired business outcomes.
The realignment of organizations around data is difficult because it requires significant
organizational change. It calls for a new focus, from the top down, and discipline from the
bottom up.
As a starting point the enterprise leader should assess the organizations goals (the use case of
data). The next step is to determining what type of data they believe is required to make those
decisions. This also works the other way around: you may have a specific type of data which
will help determine the correct business goal. The key message is aligning both of these points
data and business goals.
Diagram 1
Align data to your business goals
Internal
data type
External
data type
External data
sources
Customer data
Social-demographic
Geo-location
Credit card
companies
(=)
Business
Answer
Business
Goals
Boost campaign
effectiveness by
targeting the right
groups of customers
Increase sales
revenue
Once the value of data is established, it often comes as a shock to discover that copious funds
have been wasted on unnecessary business intelligence or analytical projects. Meanwhile, other
areas of the business will have been kept in the dark through under investment in data.
Value of data
Customer data
+
=
According to Forrester Research, 90% of the data sitting in most organizations is not used
primarily because it is so difficult for people to access, they fall at the first hurdle.
So a large percentage of problems persist and go untackled, and a number of opportunities go
begging. However, once the data is accessible, you can improve its quality and your organization
will benefit from better, more timely, decision-making thus trust and value your data more.
Customer behavior
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41%
say data is from too many
different sources.
Rosslyn Analytics believes every organization should follow a three-phased approach to data
discovery and analysis:
Connect multiple
internal data
sources into
a single view
Connect internal
data with
external source
of information
It is not uncommon to see organizations run expensive, year-long big data projects that
incorporate phase three before theyve mastered one or both of the first two phases.
In the long-term, this approach is unsustainable because long-term business performance
will be impeded and reveal which organizations have not focused on exploiting the value of their
existing data. This leads to a situation where business value goes untapped and organizations
are missing opportunities.
Value of data
The question is where efforts should be focused most profitably. Fortunately, we have provided
use cases of data for every major department with practical examples of:
Product data
Competitive intelligence
Below, in each data section, you are given an overview of how you can exploit the value of core
datasets, at each phase of the journey, so you can maximize your efforts and investments.
3. Data Quality
For obvious reasons, bad data taints the thought processes of any organization and leads
to inefficient and sometimes disastrous - decision making. No matter how wonderful your
visualization tools and your data mining platforms garbage in still leads to garbage out.
+
=
Its also costly! According to Experian, 75% of organizations waste an average of 14% of revenue
due to poor data quality.
The techniques many organizations currently use for refining the quality of data (such as
removing bad records, deleting duplicates and incomplete entries) are not enough.
However, more importantly, its a reflection of how organizations view the value of data and
where they are using data. The more that data gets used in decision-making, the more perceived
value employees get out of it, and, as a result people are more concerned about keeping it in
shape.
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Value of data
Customer data
+
=
Customer lifestyle
Reduce customer
churn by creating
customer profiles
Six
Too much of one thing and too little of another can lead to bloating in
some circumstances, circulation problems, light headedness and even
hemorrhaging of cash and resources.
When too much sales information is absorbed, without a counterbalance of spending data to
soak up the excesses, a sales director can become giddy and prone to rash judgment. Under these
circumstances, anyone over indulging like this should be prevented from driving a car, making
forecasts or operating any of the heavy levers of power in a modern mobile enterprise.
We believe there are six critical data food groups that are essential to maintaining a healthy
corporate body. This section will discuss how they work, why and in what proportions they should
be taken. It will examine why some data rapidly perishes, while others have an almost timeless
sell by date. We will discuss how you can marry data to bring out its full flavor, and warn against
mixing data types that are incompatible.
Below you will find practical examples of data preparation, sharing and consumption which
have benefitted users and created a sense of wellbeing and health. These will be tempered
with some cautionary tales of data abuse, misuse and malnutrition, as a warning of the perils
of taking data for granted.
First, we should explain the form and function of the six essential data food groups that
all breeds of organizations run on:
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Customer data
Employee data
Product data
Financial data
Spend data
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Product Data
This is the meat of the business. Products, like protein, can be broken
down into their various components and absorbed into the body of the
organization. Products go hand in hand with the strength of a company.
The more products that a company has, in
general, the better it will be able to withstand
adversity, fight off competitors and move
quickly. The company with products targeted
at multiple sectors will always be best placed
to address a new market when it begins
to take off.
Value of data
Product data
+
=
Customer feedback
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KEY
Key
Product data
Product data
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departments
from other internal departments
External data
External data
Business outcome
Business outcome
info@rosslynanalytics.com
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www.rosslynanalytics.com
Customer Data
This is a very complex information set which has massive hidden
consequences and opportunities, much like a vitamin intake. It affects
the making of deals and the opening and closing of sales, in ways
which arent entirely understood by scientists.
Value of data
Customer data
Customer online
conversations
11
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KEY
Key
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12
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Value of data
+
=
Geo-political events
13
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KEY
Key
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Finance Data
Financial information is the carbohydrate of the data food groups.
It is finance that provides the energies such as the motivation for staff
to go to work in the morning, for customers to buy products, for companies
to take the risk of creating products for trade that power every form
of transaction in a commercial enterprise.
Value of data
Financial data
+
=
Pricing information
15
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KEY
Key
Finance data
Finance data
Data from other internalData
departments
from other internal departments
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External data
Business outcome
Business outcome
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Gf
P
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typ
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et
Revenue per
service
Daily
warehouse inventory
m
pa
ny
Pro
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pe
rs
Em
plo
ye
e
ptio
ce consum n per customer
Servi
profile
H
pos R out
itiv co
e m
tho ly co e: i
se nt den
wh rib ti
o s ute
im
sa
lar
i
i
e:
m col
o
tc r
ou me
ce usto
n
a
Fin for c
s
t
s
co
www.rosslynanalytics.com
data
Fu
pe
ex
outcome: understand
Finance
barriers to growth
s of
orm
rs f
the
ho
Competitor financials
- Dun & Bradstreet
info@rosslynanalytics.com
t
wi
ve
ta
pro
da
im
ce
to
an
w
fin
ho ues
ine ven
rm s re
la
D aily
re ve n u e s
:
Employe
e mo
e eBay accounts
ym men nito
r
t
en co de
ion
ts m pa
to pli rtm
sb
su anc en
yc
pp e a t
om
lier nd
s
bin
ing
Finan
fina
ce outcom
fraud
e: uncover internal
nce
dat
a wi
th ot
her fo
rms of dat
a
16
e capabilities
Employe
and attitudes
en
r t m PC
pa by
e
sp
nd
an
aly
sis
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availability
o
Inv
De
r
lie
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e
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t o ro pa
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em su eo
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spe avoi
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ta
en
em
cur
pro
ing,
rket
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Improv
te
ca x p e
rd nse
Inc
rev o
e
Combine
finance data
with other
forms of data
ice
s
to
sts
co ers
al tom
us
ing
m ue
n
r
pe
ue rson
e
rs
me
sto
cu
of
Impr
ove
fina
nce
ome: identify new global terri
c
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dec
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c
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onomic report
na
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s
el
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a
Employee Data
If departments are the organs of a corporation, then employees
are the lifeblood equivalent. Some are red cells, with their capacity
to oxygenize the raw materials of production and take them to
a higher state of energy level.
Value of data
Employee data
+
=
17
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
KEY
Key
Employee / HR data
Employee/HR data
Data from other internalData
departments
from other internal departments
External data
External data
Business outcome
Business outcome
Impro
ve HR
dec
isio
ns b
y
cti
u vity
or tput
ts
s
ee
loy tus
p
a
Em st
e w emp
tim ith loye
e/n the es w
ee ir tim ho a
dh e
r
elp and e
Skills
records
Employee
salary data
info@rosslynanalytics.com
o
up cial
da me
tes dia
e
lla ssag
nc e
e
(e.g
. ne Com
w
off /exi peti
ice sti to
s in ng r
the co
s
Em
plo
y
e
sta e
tus s
u
r feedback about
Custome
individual employees
Operations outcome:
ed resource allocation
m
i
t
op iz
Sat
is
sur f
v
Emplo
yee satisfaction
updates
m
ail ei
Em urv
s
co
Employee social media
ve
re
status updates
mp
loy
sio
ee
ns
fra
by
ud
co
Mark
mb
eting o
sters
inin
utcome: prevent PR disa e
b
y
s
ge
monito
ring employees who po
mp
loye
communication risks
e da
ta w
ith ot
her form
s of data
18
e productivity and
Employe
work output reports
du
Pro rk o
wo rep
ng
re
ve
nu
es
Personal
reviews
Sh o
rec
se
ou c
reh re
Wa
i
om
inc
ily
Da
un
e:
om
i
utc
ec
eo
sd
anc
ion
Fin
rat
pe
do
an
nce
fina
ng,
rketi
e ma
Improv
or inve
ds nto
r
Background
checks
fee 36
d
Combine
employee
data with other
forms of data
ift
rd
s
s
use
on
db
Salaries and
bonuses
0 ck
ba
n
tio
ac ys
e
ees t
loy men
mp art
ll e dep rt?
g a x ppo
n
o i su
nd
HR
ou
tco
m
de e: m
fec iti
tin gat
gt e
o
ata
of d
ms
for
g
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fyin
nti ighly
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ith
y id
t b how are
aw
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ht ag ive
rig paid ect
e eff
ow
com
bin
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ing
out
s
em
e
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o
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o
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mu
pl
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from other internal depar
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a
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ts a
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ir sk titor
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s
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mp
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ern
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dh
Nielsen Glassdoor Survey
al
co
.g. AC
)
bin
e
d
(
Su
a
m
rve
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ta
g
o
n
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e
C
nc pen
d ys ige s o )
to o yo ask
ell titor tions
g
t
e
t h u go in
in pe ca
elp t
m e lo
Competitor salaries
a
am
ia
d
S
ala
me
r
l
i
es
s
ia
an
oc date
p
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tif
en ctiv e
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:
me d eff wa
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c
n ho
t
ou t a
HR icien ose w
ff
e
th
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Spend Data
Spending, like fat in the human diet, is an essential ingredient of
corporate life. However, too much of it is very dangerous and can
lead to a rather unattractive bottom line, which will put off investors
and horrify auditors.
To learn more about this
type of data, read
How to Obtain a Return on Your
Spend Visibility: A User Guide
for Finance and Procurement
Professionals.
Value of data
Spend data
+
=
Supplier product
Expand revenue
opportunities through
new channels
19
Cash flow
Lack of spend visibility negatively impacts
company profits because you cant manage
cash that you dont see. Spend analytics
can help you improve cash flow by better
understanding the cost of paying suppliers early.
Further analysis such as high purchase order
volumes under $100 could reveal an inefficient
accounts payable process that requires your
immediate attention.
Supplier diversity
Establishing supply chain diversity isnt just
good business sense, its often a government
requirement. The challenge for most
organizations is not knowing the types of
suppliers; and this lack of visibility can often
limit business growth. Spend analytics will tell
you how many of your suppliers are minority
and women-owned businesses and through
this knowledge youll be able to establish a
more robust sourcing strategy that will create
significant value for your organization.
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
KEY
Key
Spend data
Spend data
Data from other internalData
departments
from other internal departments
External data
External data
Business outcome
Business outcome
Impr
ove
pro
cur
em
ent
de
cis
ion
Pro
sb
e
t
pay cur
r
yc
a
u
h
me em
om
ns ons t ers
ta from other internal depa
a
d
e
h
n
e
t
i
rtme
bin
w
t
n
a
e: lati ppli
s
t
t
a
n
t
d
t
o
t
o
m
s
n
and
su utc
co regu al su
me
/
e
t
o
r
p
r
o
pli m
ext
cu
ou nd loc
ern
er
pro
Natural disaster data
s
al
s a from
ine
b
d
a
m
t
a
s
e
Co
l
r
Ac
t ru cto
co
en lic se
un
m
b
e
ts
ur g. pu nes
p
e
c
q
n
u
a
o
r
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t
u
e
s
s
In
d
i
u
s
list
Inv
er
i
l
o
p
pl
i
nd er
ma
rke
ts
info@rosslynanalytics.com
od
m
m
o
C
tc
n om
po ord e:
rtu er mo
nit to i nito
ies de r
nti
fy
pr
ice
s
nc
y
ity
Sup
pl
an ie
a
iers and parts
(suppl
leadtimes)
Sourcing data
Tr
ys
is
Lo
ca
l su
p
use inventory
Wareho
and xte
reg rnal
ula pr
bu tion oc
yin s,
gg
Geo-political data
re
ur
nc
g
i
e
For
u
to i
en ons p
rem ti o
cu ctua ings
o
r
P flu av
s
ce
pri
www.rosslynanalytics.com
data
ya
ta cco
tu un
s u ts
pd and
ate
s
p
S u pe
s al
an
utcome: negotiate b
rement o
etter
Procu
deals with suppliers
s
ev for
en
ue
S u p p li e r
sp en d
a n a l y s is
ry intelligence reports
Catego
o
G o re s
en
inv
od
Go le r
a
res
Ba
ee as
ye di
plo me
Em cial
so
n
:u
es
om
by
utc
ns
eo
anc
isio
Fin
ec
al d
leg
and
nce
fina
les,
ve sa
Impro
ds
al f o r
e
to
ry
Contracts
Combine
spend data
with other
forms of data
C
eP
ye s
d
Em
plo
ca
r
s of
orm
er f
oth
ith
aw
ta
da
le
ab
ay
s
ice
Property costs
nd
pe
r s is
s
ly
anspa
a
co
rency Internationals Glob
ve
Corruption Barometer
re
mp
co
loy
m
ee
bin
fra
ud
ing
Proc
u
iness
sp
is pa rement outcome: identify if the bus hat
en
t
rtneri
dd
anies
ng with indi
ata
have
viduals or comp ments
been b
wit
n
r
lacklisted by foreign gove
h ot
her f
orms
of data
20
at
ous
dd
ne ash
en
rro g c
sp
t e kin
ing
en ea
ev p l
pr to
e: nd s
a
com Leg
req plia al co
uir nce m
ep
p
roc with lian
ur ru ce
em le
en
t
E
Conclusion
You need to have the right
leadership, data strategy,
technologies and business
processes to prioritize and
turn complex data into
meaningfully information.
Value of data
Employee data
+
=
Employment predictions
You need to have the right leadership, data strategy, technologies and
business processes to prioritize and turn complex data into meaningful
information AND then to ensure its actually used to support decision-making.
In the next section, we will discuss how big data is used practically,
by executives in the following roles: procurement, supply chain, finance,
product manager, marketing and human resources.
21
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Customer data
+
=
Sales revenue
Finance
Data is invaluable to finance get it right
and revenue soars. Get it wrong In 2014,
Walgreens lost its CFO because he reportedly
misforecast that thedrugstore chains
pharmacy division would show $8.5 billion in
sales for fiscal-year 2016. Three months later,
the executive reduced the forecast by $1.1
billion. These mistakes are rare but they do
happen. Armed with the right data, better and
timelier decisions are possible. Finance can
and should use data in many ways, helping
colleagues across the entire organization to
lookinto the past, present and future. This will
improve budgeting and forecasting capabilities
and risk management capabilities.
22
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Spend data
+
=
Employee names
Procurement
In the age of austerity, the cost of running
public services is a political hot potato. Whether
savings are achievable without hurting front
line services is a moot point. Data analytics can
only help shed light on this contentious area.
Analysis of the costs of procurement would
work on five levels. Firstly, the number of
categories of products and services purchased
would need to be analyzed, to provide greater
clarity when making purchasing decisions.
Clarity reduces errors. Its often the case, in
the public sector, that high staff turnover and
long lead times for invoice payments lead to
situations where suppliers are unwittingly paid
several times for the same work. Analytical
tools can help eliminate these mistakes.
More detailed data on performance can lead to
tighter management of the running of contracts
and enforce contract compliance, which saves
the authority considerably from the risks
of expensive lawsuits. A cross fertilization of
data sources can indicate areas where services
could be shared, creating greater economies.
Shedding more light on spending, and greater
clarity exposes any malpractices because
embezzlers have less option to hide. Using
these techniques the National Procurement
Service of Wales could save an estimated
202 million.
23
info@rosslynanalytics.com
Supply Chain
The retail industry is under immense
pressure to tighten up its supply chain. Even
a one per cent saving can wipe millions off
its running costs. In the UK grocery chains
like Aldi and Lidl surveyed the supply chain
costs of stocking multiple brands of the same
product. Then they compared the costs of
using one brand per product, the improvement
in bargaining power by giving all their business
to one supplier. Analysis showed the costs
of managing the supply chain dropped
dramatically when the number of suppliers
was drastically cut back.
The retailers than calculated how much
of these cost savings they could pass on
to the consumer. As a result of this supply
chain analysis, discounting retailers Aldi
and Lidl have made significant inroads into
a market previously dominated by the big
four incumbents (Sainsburys, ASDA, Tesco
and Waitrose).
Sales
There are thousands of important stories
buried among the silos of sales data. The
relationships between them are not always
obvious or apparently logical. For example,
the annual battle of wits between the retailer
and the customer at Christmas means that
purchasing patterns are changing. Sales
data shows that many canny customers
are waiting until after Christmas to do the
bulk of their shopping. Analysis of social
media and shopping web sites (such as
MoneySavingexpert.com) shows that shoppers
are being urged to plan their purchases
tactically. There is a significant demographic
however, influenced by shopping deadlines,
such as Black Friday, according
to analysis. This data enabled many white
goods retailers to have a highly successful
pre-Christmas campaign.
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Product data
+
=
Industry news
Marketing
Most human beings display consistent
patterns, according to shopping psychologists,
and their analysis of customer data bears this
out. History repeats itself, so historical patterns
of customer behavior are a useful guideline
to predicting future behavior. Purchase
histories, when cross referenced to reactions
to competitor pricing, for example, could
give retailers insight into how to protect their
markets. Tesco and Waitrose, for example,
analyze their customer data (as well as
feedback from Twitter and Facebook) in a bid
to win back the customers they are losing to
Aldi and Lidl. Customer perception of offers
(such as Buy one Get one free) is changing,
and the retailers will be analyzing how
customers react to these initiatives.
Product Development
The amount of money a manufacturer invests
in product development needs to be weighed
against the possible revenue, but this in turn
is affected by several other factors that are in a
constant state of flux. In the green fuels market,
one company is facing a dilemma over how
much money it should devote to developing
a biological, environmentally friendly form
of aviation fuel.
Human Resources
Human resources are one of the hardest
variables to manage, and yet they make the
biggest difference to outcomes. Each human
brain is infinitely more sophisticated than the
most advanced computer that the combined
efforts of IBM and Google could produce. But
the human psyche is far more volatile than
a machine and more prone to downtime
and defection. The studies of data related to
motivation (such as salary data, competitor
salaries and salary surveys) all give companies
insight into employee wellbeing.
However, money is not the full story. Analysis
of productivity and its relationship to
satisfaction data is illuminating. The other
motivations for work and factors for enjoyment
can be measured by, say, social media
analysis and data from companies that track
social trends. Though the soft skills and
psychological factors that affect human output
are difficult to quantify, there is data available
to make educated guesses. This data might
not be definitive, but it will help HR managers
and CEO to back up their hunches and makes
judgments more scientific. Human resources
are difficult to manage but big data analysis
makes for better decision making.
24
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Addendum 2.0
Your internal data
Business Answer
Customer
Income of customers
Name of customers
Age
Know how much a customer spends and how much disposable income they have
Gender
Occupancy
Location
Family / dependents
Lifecycle phase
Increase number of high value customers by knowing who the high value customers are
Purchasing habits
Competitors prices
Industry prices
Pricing by location
Pricing by demographics
Testing
Supplier costs
Reduce cost of developing products by expanding supplier base with innovative vendors
Commodities pricing
Product
Value of data
+
=
Prevent fines by
not trading with
sanctioned entities
25
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Product data
+
=
Respond faster to a
competitors aggressive
sales strategy
26
Rosslyn Analytics (AIM: RDT), the leading global data technology company,
helps organizations create new business value from previously inaccessible
data. We have developed exciting award-winning technologies designed
specifically for business users to easily access and turn complex data into
meaningful information via our RAPid Data Cloud Platform. No other
platform, on premise or in the cloud, is such a game-changer, with a data
technology stack that includes human-driven machine learning and NoSQL
technologies such as Hadoop, MongoDB and ElasticSearch.
For more information including a demo, visit
www.rosslynanalytics.com or @RosslynBI.
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com
Value of data
Customer data
Competitor customer
wins
Run an efficient,
targeted sales
program
Hugh Cox
Founder, Chief Data Officer
Lance Mercereau
Chief Marketing Officer
27
info@rosslynanalytics.com
www.rosslynanalytics.com