Paul Jones: Data, Strategy, Innovation

Unlocking transformational value requires strategic alignment of data initiatives with business objectives.  Missing this step is like setting off on a journey without working out where you’re going first. Are you clear on your business objectives?  What are you doing to align your data initiative, so that it directly supports your business objectives? #StrategicAlignment #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Data visualisation is the bridge between complex data and actionable insights.  It enables your data tell a compelling story.  If used in the right way, data visualisation can be THE difference between success and failure. What are you doing to visualise your data effectively, to uncover actionable insights? #DataVisualisation #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Automation can be a key driver for efficiency and scalability in data-driven organisations. There are often more opportunities for automation than you think – if you know where to look for them, and how to take advantage of them. What are you doing to drive automation in your business, to realise efficiencies and to support scalability? #AutomatedInsights #Automation  #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Chat GPT and other AI tools are revolutionising the way we interact with data and uncover hidden opportunities.  But as with any tools that use data, you need to feed the tool with high quality data, and need to make sure you’re using the tools properly to get the most out of them. How are you using Chat GPT and other AI tools to s uncover hidden business value opportunities? #DataIntelligence #ChatGPT #LLMs #opportunities #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Effective Data Quality Management is *NOT JUST ABOUT* creating lots of Data Quality metrics and tactically cleaning Data … …it’s about delivering BUSINESS VALUE by FIXING ROOT CAUSE ISSUES… …which REDUCES WASTED TIME, INCREASES SPEED and EFFECTIVENESS of DELIVERY, REDUCES ERRORS, REDUCES COMPLAINTS, REDUCES SECURITY BREACHES and MORE… …good Data Quality underpins all effective business processes and customer interactions – so getting it right really does drive SIGNIFICANT VALUE… Do you agree? Is there anything you would add? What are you doing to make sure your DATA QUALITY MANAGEMENT efforts are EFFECTIVE? #data #value #success #datavaluesuccess #dataquality #businessvalue #tips

"THE METADATA MESS" is the fifth chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories"). SYNOPSIS: A data detective story: following a series of complaints from customers and employees, a retail data product company hires you as a data investigator to get to the bottom of the problems. As you trace the challenges from the data shop, through the data warehouse and back to where the data’s coming from, you uncover the root causes that need to be addressed to resolve them. FIRST PARAGRAPH: “You’ve been called in to help. You’ve not taken on a job quite this big before, but it’s your area of specialism: retail troubleshooting. In other words, you’re a consultant who helps improve the performance of data shops and retail outlets.” DATA MANAGEMENT LESSON 5: Metadata management is like supply chain orchestration. You need to label and track your stock to be able to optimise logistics and meet customer expectations. Understanding what data you have and where it ...

Unlocking the full potential of your data requires the effective use of technologies. Cutting-edge data technologies can be helpful, but it’s how you use the technologies you have, that makes the real difference. What are you doing, to maximise the value of your data, through the most effective use of technology? #StayInnovative #technologies #datatechnologies #datatech #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

💼 Role modeling is a powerful tool for instilling a data-driven mindset throughout your organization. As a Senior Leader, embodying data-driven decision-making, developing data literacy, and incorporating data analytics in your own decision processes sets an example for others to follow. Let's all of us be the role models who inspire a data-driven revolution across our organisations! #RoleModeling #DataDrivenMindset #DataRevolution #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Governance meetings can be awful. Dull, frustrating, a waste of time. Admin and checkbox-ticking. Creating audit trails for the sake of compliance. Or they can be energising, problem-solving sessions. Valuable and necessary. The kinds of meetings that people don't want to miss, because they really matter. What kind of governance meetings do you run? #data #value #success #datavaluesuccess #governance #datagovernance

Artificial Intelligence empowers enterprises to make smarter, data-driven decisions. If, that is, it’s implemented in a thoughtful way, to solve real business problems, and to drive innovation, productivity and efficiency. What are you doing to harness the potential of Artificial Intelligence, for your business?  #AIforBusiness #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

 EFFECTIVE Data Governance is *NOT* just about MEETINGS AND PAPERWORK… …it’s about driving timely and meaningful DECISIONS and ACTIONS… …which CREATE CLARITY, RESOLVE PROBLEMS, ENABLE PROGRESS, REDUCE COSTS and DELIVER VALUE… What are you doing to make sure your DATA GOVERNANCE initiative is EFFECTIVE? #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataGovernance #Effective #Decisions #Actions #BusinessOutcomes

" THE DATA ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT " is the fourth chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories"). SYNOPSIS: You are excited to be appointed to lead a major new development in Data Insights Town, but are shocked when you arrive to find a hotch-potch of data buildings and some downright dangerous data constructions. Your team is in chaos and seem to be working against each other; can you get everyone on the same page and working in the same direction to get the project back on track? FIRST PARAGRAPH: “You’ve been waiting for this for a long time. It’s the opportunity you’ve been training for and it’s a great honour. After many years of working in various different roles, working your way up the ranks and building experience across numerous positions, you’ve finally made it. What you don’t realise, just yet, is quite what you’re getting yourself into.” DATA MANAGEMENT LESSON 5: Data Architecture is like delivering a large infrastructure b...

If an Accountability framework creates division and silos, the way it’s been implemented is wrong. Whilst clarification of accountabilities and responsibilities is vital, especially where there is a need for segregation of duties, there should be more of a focus on the interactions needed between people in these roles to achieve outcomes. RACI matrices are an important tool in process design, but here’s the important point: they are used to clarify who does what in the context of the delivery of an end-to-end process. Each step is dependent on each other and consequently each role is dependent on one another. The minute you hear people using their accountabilities as an excuse to avoid collaboration (“that’s not my accountability”, “that’s not in scope for me”, etc) – it’s possible that something’s not quite right. This applies to all types of roles: business, technology, change, data… There is no doubt that formalised accountability is important and needed. But do those who are accoun...

Analytics is more than just numbers.  It's the art of extracting actionable insights from data.   It’s this focus on business insights, that enables you to drive value. What are you doing to look beyond the numbers and drive actionable insights? #ActionableAnalytics #Analytics #DataAnalytics #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Would you like to know a simple trick to quickly improve the effectiveness of your Data & Analytics function? This is not always easy to do, but I can guarantee that it works, if you really commit to doing it (and it works in other aspects of business and in life too, if you want to give it a go): STEP 1: Ask yourself the question: if there was ONE THING that I could STOP, or GET OUT OF, with the gift of hindsight, what would that be? STEP 2: STOP IT, or GET OUT OF IT, as quickly as possible. And that's it! (You can of course make a list of things you want to stop rather than just identifying one thing - but it's always a good idea to identify a priority and focus on it until it's done, before moving onto anything else). That might sound easy, but often it isn’t. I bet you could think of a few things you would stop now if you had the choice, so why are you still doing them? Maybe stopping them just doesn't seem like a priority? Or the effort involved seems too much ...

Architecting data solutions for scalability and flexibility is crucial for driving transformative value.  Failing to do this, will cost you far more in the long run, and will lead to missed opportunities. What are you doing, to make sure you are designing your data solutions to be flexible and extensible? #DataArchitecture #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

" THE DATA QUALITY HOSPITAL " is the third chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories"). SYNOPSIS: In the middle of a Data Quality health pandemic, you are appointed to lead the Data Quality Hospital, and must work out what is working and what needs to be improved to deal with the various issues data people have, reviewing the hospital’s processes from triaging new data health issues, through to delivering different treatments and implementing preventative measures. FIRST PARAGRAPH: “The Data Quality Hospital operates within the Data Country, so its patients are all data people. You’ve been put in charge of the Data Quality Hospital and it needs your help. There’s an overwhelming number of cases flooding in and the numbers seem to be going up. Fears are stirring about a potential data pandemic and something needs to be done to get on top of the ever-increasing volumes of data quality patients.” DATA MANAGEMENT LESSON 3: Data Quality Management ...

What does great Data leadership feel like? Have you ever experienced this before?... ...From Day 1, it was obvious that the newly appointed Data Leader was the right person for the job. They immediately engaged with senior leaders across the organisation, to understand their needs. Every person they met was impressed by the way they listened and demonstrated both their understanding and their ability to offer options for ways forwards. They engaged with their new team, to understand what was working and not working; to assess skills and aspirations; and to establish management structures for effective communication, with clear prioritisation and direction. They had just the right level of technical capability to lead, balanced with people leadership and stakeholder engagement skills. Within weeks, everyone could “feel” the difference. There was a clarity of VISION. Everyone knew where they were going. There was clarity about PRIORITIES and PROGRESS. Everyone knew where they were and wh...

"THE DATA GOVERNANCE COUNTRY" is the second chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories)”. SYNOPSIS: After years of data corruption and ever-increasing problems for the people of the data country, a new Data Government is elected to turn things around. As the Head of the Data Government, you get to work on plans to implement each part of your Data Government manifesto, from data policing to data innovation. FIRST PARAGRAPH: “In this Data Country, the people are data. The data people each have their own individual characteristics: some are highly skilled and work in productive jobs that contribute to the economy and society; others may be less qualified but perform tasks that are totally essential to the running of the country; some are entrepreneurs that take steps to innovate and generate new value through business. There are also some who are less useful and make fewer contributions to the Data Governance Country. Worse, there are a small minority ...

High-quality data is the foundation of any successful data and analytics strategy. Invest wisely, and you will reap the rewards. How are you investing in Data Quality, to underpin your analytics strategy? #DataQualityMatters #DataQuality #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

BACKGROUND: The business world has generated more data in the last 10 years than it did in the previous 100. To properly unlock the value of data in your organisation, it’s important to set a sound data strategy. We look at the full scale of how you use data, so we can transform how you use it and make it more useful, reliable and trustworthy. WE CAN HELP! Check out the link to Baringa's Data, Analytics & AI (DAA) capabilities page below, to find out more about what we can do for you. (https://www.baringa.com/en/capabilities/data-analytics-ai/) Our key TRUSTED DATA services, in summary: DATA STRATEGY - A good data strategy is ambitious and high-impact, but also practical. We’ll work with you to create the right one for your business objectives. DATA GOVERNANCE - We design, set up and run data governance capabilities to solve business problems, reduce risks and deliver tangible value. DATA ARCHITECTURE CAPABILITY - We establish the people, processes, skills and tools to effectiv...

“All Data Management initiatives are essentially the same.” “Every Data Management initiative is different.” BOTH of these statements are TRUE, at the same time. Can you think of any examples where either of them are false? THE SAME: Every data management initiative I have ever seen, was setup to address one or more business issues or opportunities, which could be categorised as being one of a set of "common" challenges that many businesses face, and they have also all involved implementing one or more of the standard data management capabilities needed to solve those issues. DIFFERENT: However, the specific ways in which the issues manifested themselves, for each company, and the specific business impacts, along with the specific ways in which data management capabilities needed to be implemented, to directly and effectively address the issues, were always different. Any attempt to just generically implement a set of “standard” data management capabilities, without taking in...

"Oh no, it's happened again!" Mouths are wide open with shock. Your heart sinks, you feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and your mind starts racing. Millions of customers are going to be impacted. The complaints are already starting to come in. The regulator will be on the phone any minute. You're already imagining the damning headlines that will start hitting social media when the press gets wind of what's going on... Have you ever had to deal with a serious data breach? I have been part of many projects to prevent data breaches, but also, unfortunately, had to be a part of far too many serious incident responses than I would have hoped to experience. Keeping a clear head is key, as is having a well defined and well practiced approach for dealing with them, should they happen, both in terms of damage control (limiting the impact) and recovery. Have you ever considered what the worst case scenario might look and feel like? What are you doing to preve...

 Driving real results requires a pragmatic approach to enterprise data and analytics.  This means taking theory, and turning it into real action, which drives tangible results. What are you doing to explore the possibilities offered by practical enterprise data and analytics? #PracticalDataSolutions #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Are you missing these 5 common but often overlooked signs that indicate that you've got a Data Management problem? Your business is losing money, and you can't work out why You keep getting complaints, and you can't work out why You've got loads of operational problems, and you can't work out why You keep experiencing technology and security incidents, and you can't work out why You're using reports to make business decisions, but you keep getting it wrong If you "can't work out why", it's probably because you either don't have the Data you need, or you don't have the ability to use it to drive insights and make decisions. If you are using Data but are still making poor decisions, either the Data is wrong, or you're using it in the wrong way. Businesses WIN, when they use Data to run their business; to understand how their business is operating; to diagnose problems; and make well-informed business decisions. Businesses LOSE whe...

Your Data Leadership team is *THE* KEY to making your Data initiative successful. Of course, you will need great “doers” in your Data team – they’re the people who will “get the job done”, at the end of the day – but a great team, without great leadership, is still set up to fail. The greater the scale of your initiative, the more important this becomes. Great leaders are crucial for setting direction, for leading day-to-day, and for both recruiting, and for coaching and developing a high performing team. This does of course all start with the “one at the top”.  Who is the person, who will shape and lead the team overall? The right person to lead a Data team can vary widely based on the outcomes that an organisation is trying to deliver, the scale of the company, and the specific responsibilities of the role. This is why the selection of the right leader needs to be done carefully. It really is worth putting the effort into defining the OUTCOMES of roles clearly, and putting in the...

 🌟 When it comes to Data Strategy, I've always found that a holistic approach is key.  Always start with the WHY, at a holistic, organisational level. Not just restricted to localised, tactical problems. Aligned to the organisation’s strategic objectives and target outcomes. Then, success depends on aligning people, processes, and technology to deliver joined-up solutions, which meet business needs and are fully adopted, to maximise the value of data. Any one of these things, on their own, won’t work. Data is created and used by People, as part of the delivery of Processes, using Technology.  A Data Strategy itself can take various forms, depending on the organisation’s need – but thinking about it holistically, will lead to more impactful and effective outcomes. How are you ensuring that your Data Strategy is holistic and joined up, to maximise the delivery of value? #DataStrategy #HolisticApproach #MaximizeDataValue #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataV...

 I'll let you in on a secret: There's *no such thing* as "NO" data management! Everything a business does, runs on Data. So, if you think you've got "NO" data management, either: - You're managing your Data SO WELL that it's an invisible part of how you operate, OR (unfortunately, more likely): - You've not just got BAD data management, you've actually got REALLY BAD data management, which is even worse! Either way, realising that "managing data" is something all businesses do everywhere, is a useful mindset shift, because if you know that’s the case, then you can do something to make it better. What do you think? #DataManagement #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

Businesses literally wouldn’t exist without data! Think about something simple like taking a payment from a customer. It’s not possible to make a payment, without data about the payment, including the amount being paid.  Given every business needs to take and make payments, it’s no exaggeration to say that every business runs on data. As such, managing data well, supports effective business operations, and opens up opportunities to unlock business value in other ways, too. What are you doing to unlock the value of the data for your business? #DataStrategy #Analytics #Data #Value #Success #Practical #Expert #Tips #DataValueSuccess #DataValueBytes

 " THE DATA GARDEN " is the first chapter of the book, "The Data Garden (And Other Data Allegories)”. SYNOPSIS: The owners of a Data Garden hire you, the Data Gardener, when their little data garden becomes overgrown and they can’t use it anymore. Following some success in the little garden, you are invited to work in bigger and bigger data gardens, and need to lead data gardening teams and apply different data gardening techniques to deal with the different challenges of larger-scale data gardens. FIRST PARAGRAPH: “In this little Data Garden, the plants and trees are data. They’ve all been planted for a purpose. Some are there to bear fruit. Others are there to look beautiful and provide the users of the garden with joy. Some are there to combine with other plants; and there is a single tree, which was planted to fix a swing to, for children to play on.” DATA MANAGEMENT LESSON 1: Data Management is like gardening. It’s a never-ending task, because data keeps growing in ...