Syntagium | Data Analytics Blog

Don’t just ask “what happened?”  Ask “Why?”

A data driven organisation does this routinely, daily, constantly.  More importantly, they leverage their organisational data to support strategic decision making.   Imagine knowing not only the details of which products outperformed and underperformed this month (or last month) but also the reason why.

Armed with the what gives you the ability to respond to the past.

Armed with the why allows you to influence the future.

How many PowerPoint presentations have you sat through, stifling a yawn here and there and wondered “where is this all going?”  Or maybe you recall the time the presenter read out loud slide after slide of 12pt text and you tried to race them to the end?

How many of them were created by you? Gulp!

The role of Data Analyst was hardly ever heard of five years ago.  With the explosion of Big Data and Data Analytics, the demand for them has never been higher.  The world wide shortage of Data Analyst makes it a challenge to find the right one?  Here's our take on the 5 key skills to look for when hiring a Data Analyst.

We all know the feeling of dread that can accompany month-end reporting. There’s that last minute panic to get everything done, the stress of having to source and reconcile the right data, and the constant vowing – every month – that you’ll be far more organised next time.  Once the dust has settles you're left wondering how on earth can you cut your month-end reporting time in half.

A lot’s changed in the last two hundred years. We’ve gone from a situation where people had a real scarcity of information and an abundance of time, to the reverse scenario: a scarcity of time and an abundance of information.

Let’s compare a few of the communication systems that people used in the 1800s with those more commonly used today.

 

Did you know about the year without summer?  Back in 1816, long before Twitter, Facebook and live news feeds, the world experienced a severe climactic event; the scale of which hasn’t been seen since.  The world was plunged into darkness for a whole year.

Temperatures plummeted around the globe, rivers froze over in the U.S., and at the same time, massive floods occurred across Europe and Asia. Agriculture failed worldwide, leading to food shortages, and there were global outbreaks of famine and disease. Crop prices skyrocketed by 700% and the lack of food led to civil unrest and riots.

There’s no doubt data analytics is changing the business landscape. Innovative companies are embracing big data and data analytics to gain customer insights, create new revenue streams, improve operational efficiencies and help drive more lasting customer relationships.  Yet there are still many common misconceptions about data analytics.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have heard about data analytics, and how it promises to evolve your business and transform your relationships.

Today, embracing big data – and interpreting it through data analytics – is becoming increasingly essential. According to Big Data Made Simple, 77% of top organisations now consider data analytics a crucial component of business performance.

How well do you really know your customers? Do you genuinely understand who they are and what they are looking for? When are they most likely to buy from you? And why would they choose your business over another? Learn how to read your customers mind.

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Did you know that excel was first released in 1985!  Haven’t we all seen enough Excel pie charts to last a lifetime?  That’s why you need to ditch excel and start using BI tools.