Gauging Progress
Once you’ve started solving business problems using big data and analytics, how do you know if your capabilities are progressing? IBM developed the Analytics Quotient (AQ) so that organizations can measure their maturity in adopting big data and analytics and set goals for enhanced adoption.22 Based on answers to approximately 15 questions, organizations can find out if they are novices, builders, leaders, or masters.
In 2013, the IBM Institute of Business Value published results from a study focused on how to convert insights from big data and analytics into results.23 More than 900 business and IT executives were surveyed, and through research, nine levers were identified that distinguish leaders who are able to realize value from big data and analytics from those who are not. As described in the report, the nine levers are:24
- Source of Value: Decisions that generate value
- Measurement: Business outcome measurement
- Platform: Integrated hardware and software capabilities
- Culture: The availability and use of data and analytics within an organization
- Data: Formal processes for data governance and security
- Trust: Confidence within the organization
- Sponsorship: Support and involvement of executives
- Funding: A rigorous analytics funding process
- Expertise: Development of and access to data and analytics skills
The authors found a strong link between organizations that excel in these nine levers and organizations that are deriving the greatest value from data and analytics. Further, they found that the levers do not impact the creation of value in the same way, and they identified a progression of three steps—Enable, Drive, and Amplify—each with three of the levers (see Figure 1-1):25
- Enable forms the foundation for creating value from big data and analytics. The foundation is actions and decisions that generate value, measuring outcomes and providing a platform for big data and analytics activities.
- Drive has the actions needed to create value by moving from analytics discovery to value creation, which is aided by having an analytics and big data culture, having data governance and data security, and creating trust.
Amplify increases the amount of value realized by providing momentum to translate insights into actions that increase an organization’s bottom line. This is done through sharing a common vision, managing and monitoring analytic investments, and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
Figure 1-1 Nine levers: Capabilities that enable and enhance big data and analytics development, delivery, and value creation
Source: “Analytics: A blueprint for value—Converting big data and analytics into results,” IBM Institute for Business Value. © 2013 IBM Corporation
As you start your journey to leverage big data and analytics for business value, start by leveraging the three levers in Enable—Source of Value, Measurement, and Platform—and then move to Drive and then finally to Amplify.