Africa-Press – Namibia. Whenever you are about to travel to a place you have never been before, you google many things about it.
You treat this information with so much confidence that you base many of your subsequent decisions on it.
In doing so, you are making firm decisions in the present based on information about a future that is yet to happen.
This is the power of data and analytics. As an organisation grows, so should it grow in maturity of how it handles data. Just to be clear – everything produces data on a daily basis, even a kapana stand.
There are four different levels of maturity in how you handle data.
The most uncomplicated level is descriptive analytics. This is simply about reporting the past, like asking how much kapana you sold last month.
Many large organisations still use their best data for reporting only; it shouldn’t be so.
You will notice this if your board and executive meetings only deal with reports of the past.
The second level is diagnostic analytics. This is when you ask lateral questions such as “how did the weather affect my kapana sales”.
It seeks to understand why the past data behaved as it did. The third level is predictive analytics, which seeks to use the data to predict how your kapana sales will perform next week, all things being equal.
However, the fourth and most important use of data, is prescriptive analytics.
It asks the question: “Using the data I have, how can I increase demand and sales for my kapana?”
Prescriptive analytics uses past data to develop strategies that will generate your desired outcome.
This is what board, executive and strategic levels should concern themselves with.
Analysing data does not only help understand the past, but more importantly, it helps to predict and design the future.e
In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch.
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