One of the largest obstacles businesses face is turning data into action. If you’ve been around the business or technological environment, you’re likely familiar with the weight placed on collecting and interpreting data. Companies dedicate entire teams and software devoted to gathering, mining, and interpreting data.
However, even once data is interpreted, it is useless until someone uses it to make a business-related change. This is known as turning data into action. If your business isn’t able to use the data you collect to make a change or put it to work, you’re essentially wasting the time, effort, and money dedicated to data mining.
So, how can your business turn data into action? The answer lies in operational analytics. This guide breaks down everything you need to know about how to turn the data you collect into action with operational analytics. Read on to learn how to turn data into action and make your business grow!
What is Operational Analytics?
To put it simply, operational analytics is a way to take the data your team collects and turn it into action. In other words, it turns the insights you receive into a way to make your business better.
Why do you need to use operational analytics? Think of it this way. Operational data pushes your company’s teams to actually use the information they collect to do things. If you’re collecting information but you don’t put that information to use, then your business stays the same. If your business is staying the same and not improving in some way, then there’s no point in trying to collect this information in the first place.
Different Types of Data Analytics
There are two main types of data analytics that are necessary for running a successful business. These are operational data and analytical data. The main difference between operational data and analytical data is this: Operational data is data that actually takes action with the new data they’ve received. Again, this is turning data into action and is what you want to aim for when collecting data in the first place.
Analytical data, on the other hand, is more focused on collecting data surrounding sales, finances, marketing, and more to analyze the health of the business and make executive decisions from there. In other words, analytical data gets a big picture on how the business is doing and what can improve. Both operational data and analytical data are needed to grow and operate a successful business.
How can You Effectively Turn Data Into Action?
If turning data into action is this important, why do so many businesses still fall short of operational analytics? The answer lies in a few key challenges surrounding the process. Let’s take a closer look at some of these challenges and how to overcome them.
Communication
One of the biggest roadblocks in the way of turning data into action is communication. Sure, a team can gather data and another team can make decisions and turn data into action, but there is a gap in between. How is the data supposed to be relayed from the gathering team to the marketing team? How are businesses supposed to communicate with each other to turn the data they collect into action?
This challenge is what stands in the way of most businesses succeeding in operational analytics. Businesses not only need to exchange data quickly and efficiently, but they have to ensure data remains accurate in the process. This is a bigger challenge than you may realize.
How can a business overcome this obstacle? The key lies in the data warehouse. Think of your data warehouse as the only true source of accurate data for your business. The data warehouse is the only place where all the data collected exists simultaneously. Finding a way to bring data together in your data warehouse is key to mastering communication and turning data into action.
The Tool that Syncs Customer Data to Your Warehouse
How can you maximize your data warehouse to turn data into action most effectively? Our tool can help!
Most companies have their own data warehouses where they house the data collected. However, the trouble comes when trying to sync up this data to keep it accurate and organized. The data warehouse is the single source of truth for customer data, and it heavily affects marketing and sales performance. So, finding the right tools to sync your data can make or break your success.
Our data syncing tool helps you sync all company data to one easy to use platform your team can rely on. Try it today and master turning data into action!
