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Why your organization needs a data culture

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Published on: November 2021

Written by: Joan Gasull

To be successful in today’s environment, it’s critical for organizations to go beyond the six major data technologies – Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, Data Science, Data Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data – and adopt a Data Culture. Many leaders wonder – what even is a data culture? Why does it matter for my organization?

An insatiable thirst for data

The demand for the technological subsector based on information, along with its storage and processing, is only growing with increasing speed. Searches for terms related to data on Google and other search engines have multiplied by more than 9 times in the last decade. Furthermore, the demand for purely technological job positions, mainly associated with the creation or expansion of “analytics” departments, is only the tip of the iceberg for what the world of data is capable of offering.

This growth has occurred for a reason. In today’s world, a company’s turning point for accelerating growth, if you’re focused on the technological side, is when the entire workforce has adopted a true data culture – they understand both how to leverage data and why it is important.

Raising awareness around Data Culture

This cultural shift, when the entire workforce adopts a data culture, is where the true potential of data lies. Digital services and e-commerce companies monitor all variables related to their business, which allows them, among other things, to anticipate changes, increase adaptability, and improve prediction. More traditional companies, even if highly digitized, generally waste too much of the data they generate. This is often due to a lack of practical knowledge or references of what they can do with it.

Entire organizations don’t need to understand Machine Learning algorithms or how to configure data services in the Cloud to be competitive, but it is important for employees to understand the basics of the world of data. This allows them to consider the possibilities it offers, and to obtain the knowledge that allows them to take advantage of the millions of pieces of data that a company uses daily.

Data-Driven Companies

This type of company – one where most employees understand the world of data and leverage the data to make decisions – is just another way to describe what has been commonly called a data-driven company, or a company that leverages data-driven decision-making. Google, Amazon, Netflix, and King, the creator of the infamous Candy Crush, are all good examples of companies who use data-driven decision-making practices.

What do these practices consist of? The list is long, ranging from the most classic statistics to prediction algorithms with neural networks through text mining. Some examples of data-driven decision-making are:

  • Using A/B Testing methodologies in departments such as sales or marketing to add value to the services offered and improve efficiency.
  • Dynamically readjusting the online sales catalog based on the time and day of the week to maximize the visibility of certain brands’ most popular products.
  • Automatically classifying communication with customers into categories (for example, sales, technical service, sales, etc.) to speed up the flow of information in the appropriate department.
  • Analyzing workers’ productivity and performance based on factors such as time or workload to adjust their schedule or distribution of functions in order to increase not only their performance, but also their comfort.

Implementing a Data Culture in your organizations is critical for future success. This type of culture allows everyone in the organization to understand the potential of data and how to leverage it in decision-making. This empowers every employee, from the senior level to the front line, with the tools to be a change agent, driving the business to the future.

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