Wednesday 17 August 2016

Obinna Dike, Citi Professional - What is Business Analytics Worth?

Obinna Dike has worked with Citi in London and in New York. He is an expert in software systems and business analytics.

In most situations the difference in value of business analytics is the difference between teams that know what they are worth and those who don’t. General perception is that if a team can’t explain its value then its time is worthless.

Effective business analytics teams strive for continuous value creation. On the way to this goal, they create a variety of intangible assets that help collect, manage, present, and predict data.

For example, a marketing analytics team may create a model that segments customer database to improve the results of direct marketing efforts. By segmenting customers, an organization could improve its conversion rates and customer retention.

Even though information presented by business analytics teams is intangible, it makes sense to account for it as if it were an asset.

In most situations there is a simple solution for determining the value of a business analytics team. When insights drive monetary outcomes, the case could be made for tracing the value chain back to the original assets. Doing so allows not only for linking specific insights to outcomes, but also for identifying influence weights.

The fact that value changes over time is logical and obvious. When it comes to business analytics, this fact does cause an issue. Most teams fail to treat their analytical assets as valuable.

When it comes to money, we usually keep a close eye on the returns of our investments. A rational investor wants to make sure that he is getting the best possible return on his investment.

Analytical assets such as models are no different. They are investments that need to be protected and preserved.

However, the biggest asset of any organization is its people. Having talented engineers like Obinna Dike Citi is an investment worth every penny.