Businesses are drowning in an ocean of data.
From IT and marketing to sales and finance, every department creates reams of data every day. Analysts collect as much of it as they can, hoping the insights contained therein will help them streamline their processes, better understand their customers, and create innovative new products. But in our experience, few businesses truly realise how much data they have – let alone how to use it effectively.
Realising that data mature companies have the edge over their competitors, we’ve seen a marked rise in the demand for data discovery workshops.
So, what is data discovery? More importantly, how does it help you turn a collection of ones and zeros into strategic insights?
Data discovery powers business intelligence
As the volume of information increases, businesses need a single version of the truth for all their business insights. Data discovery – also known as data mining or data exploration – is a multi-stage process B2B and B2C companies use to locate, understand, analyse, and classify data from disparate sources.
When done well, data discovery enables you to identify:
- Patterns
- Trends
- Relationships
- Opportunities
- Anomalies…
…and a host of other valuable insights that were inaccessible in years past. Think of data discovery as the engine that drives strategic decision-making and business intelligence (BI) in the digital age.
What is data discovery?
“Data discovery is the process of extracting actionable patterns from data. The extraction is generally performed by humans or, in certain cases, by artificial intelligence systems. The data presented is typically in a visual format and may look like a dashboard, depending on how it is presented in the application.”
What is data discovery? The 4 key benefits
1. Understand your data
At a basic level, data discovery allows you to combine information from multiple streams and sources into a centralised repository for all your business insights. It allows you to organise, classify, and understand the information at your disposal to create a single version of the truth for all stakeholders.
This is about more than setting your house in order. A key part of data discovery is ensuring the information you use to make business decisions is trustworthy and reliable.
2. Inform strategic decision making
Using data to inform business decisions seems like a no-brainer. But until recently, it remained elusive for most organisations that lacked the IT and analytical expertise to make sense of the information at their disposal.
By organising market and process information into a single hub, data discovery gives you access to strategic insights that help you make decisions based on evidence, not hunches. Whether that’s analysing customer trends to guide your next marketing campaign or looking for weak links in your supply chain.
3. Identify new business opportunities
New insights mean new opportunities. Data discovery allows you to quickly process the continuous flow of data coming into your business, so you can identify opportunities before your competitors do. Artificial intelligence (AI) enhances the process further.
A sophisticated algorithm can spot trends and make suggestions without human input. So, even when no one’s in the office, you can rest assured you’re not missing out on any exciting opportunities.
4. Enhance risk management and compliance
As the volume of data increases, businesses have a tougher time managing compliance and security risks. No one wants to be the victim of a data breach. The final cost alone can be staggering. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) can levy fines of up to €20 million or 4% of the infringer’s total global turnover for the previous financial year (whichever is higher) for severe GDPR violation. A serious data breach can also damage your reputation and erode customer trust in your brand.
Data discovery gives you a clear, bird’s-eye view of your data ecosystem so you can spot and manage potential issues before they escalate.
Tools and approaches
There are plenty of data visualisation and analytics tools on the market that help you locate and organise your data, many of which fall under the umbrella of traditional BI solutions. But knowing where your data lives and using it to support strategic decision-making are two very different things.
Data has little practical value without context. That’s why our approach to data discovery combines expertise, skills, and tools to create a multi-stage process that incorporates:
- Technology analysis
- Process review
- Stakeholder consultation
- Review and advice
Technology analysis
Stage one involves a careful review of your data sources, reporting technologies, and business intelligence tools. This allows us to build a clear picture of your current data ecosystem.
Process review
We take a closer look at how you gather, organise, and use your data. We also review any process documentation and training you provide.
Stakeholder consultation
To better understand where you sit on the data maturity curve, we hold workshops and interviews with key stakeholders. This helps us identify the challenges, bottlenecks, and opportunities data can help you overcome or unlock.
Review and advice
This is where we unite all the information we’ve gathered to provide actionable recommendations. We deliver this in the form of a comprehensive data discovery report that helps to align your data to your wider business goals and guide your digital transformation.
Don’t fall behind your competitors
Data is one of the most precious commodities a business has. It fuels innovation and powers growth. But we still see countless businesses struggle to harness their data at scale.
With the right combination of guidance and business intelligence tools, anyone can unlock powerful strategic insights. And it all begins with data discovery.
