We’ve been saying that when Gartner talks about analytics and business (and healthcare) intelligence, we all stop and listen. Not that they are either prescient or infallible, but that they do the research . . . so we don’t have to.
Here is our take on some of the research, comments and implications of the fast-pace and a changing ecosystem of agile analytics from a Gartner summit last month.
According to Alan Duncan, research director at Gartner, “Analytic agility is the ability for business intelligence and analytics to be fast, responsive, flexible and adaptable.”
This capability is in high demand. “One of the biggest challenges businesses face when implementing a digital strategy is ‘faster implementation,’” said Mr. Duncan. In Gartner’s Digital Business Survey, 48% of respondents cited this challenge. Gartner clients report lead times of six weeks or more to develop and generate the business reports that are necessary to make business decisions.
Mr. Duncan advised: “Abandon hierarchical working practices, and build analytics teams with a culture of agility.” Here are his recommendations.
Team Structure
To be agile, analytics teams need to be configured in a way that enables members to dynamically adopt different roles. Factors to consider include:
- The team may function in a fully centralized manner, or in “virtual” collaboration, depending on the organizational culture and dynamics.
- Once in place, the team may move toward self-organization, where it will make its own decisions about who will fulfill roles to achieved required project outcomes.
- Resourcing levels may need to vary according to levels of demand.
- Other internal resources can be brought in when required.
Leadership
Leaders entrusted with leading agile analytics need to create an environment where self-organizing team members can effectively operate and deliver value to the business. Agile analytics team leaders should be able to:
- Relate: Share business insights that build team trust
- Scout: Seek information from other stakeholders
- Persuade: Engage, support and encourage the team
- Empower: Delegate, coach and support team members
Mr. Duncan stressed that the term “agile” is used within the IT domain to describe a specific category of software development methodologies. “Agility within the analytics practice refers to a general ability to be responsive, flexible and deliver fast insights,” he explained.
You don’t need to do it all yourself. There are effective ways to get the best of both.
We enhance your BI capabilities. Bring us into your strategic conversations.
As an experienced analytics thought partner, we’ll give you new insights into trends, measure progress toward a set of quantitative goals, flag shifts in your markets or financial operations and even lift your customer experiences to a higher level of satisfaction.
Call us to start a neutral and friendly conversation: 512-478-3848.
We have some success stories to share that tell you we can help with your agile planning analytics! And some related reading if you’re interested.
www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/bring-your-own-app-strategies