Delivering Business Analytics

AVOID THE MISTAKES THAT OTHERS MAKE – LEARN WHAT LEADS TO BEST PRACTICE AND KICKSTART SUCCESS This groundbreaking resource provides comprehensive coverage across all aspects of business analytics, presenting proven management guidelines to drive sustainable differentiation. Through a rich set of case studies, author Evan Stubbs reviews solutions and examples to over twenty common problems spanning managing analytics assets and information, leveraging technology, nurturing skills, and defining processes. Delivering Business Analytics also outlines the Data Scientist’s Code, fifteen principles that when followed ensure constant movement towards effective practice. Practical advice is offered for addressing various analytics issues; the advantages and disadvantages of each issue’s solution; and how these solutions can optimally create organizational value. With an emphasis on real-world examples and pragmatic advice throughout, Delivering Business Analytics provides a reference guide on: The economic principles behind how business analytics leads to competitive differentiation The elements which define best practice The Data Scientist’s Code, fifteen management principles that when followed help teams move towards best practice Practical solutions and frequent missteps to twenty-four common problems across people and process, systems and assets, and data and decision-making Drawing on the successes and failures of countless organizations, author Evan Stubbs provides a densely packed practical reference on how to increase the odds of success in designing business analytics systems and managing teams of data scientists. Uncover what constitutes best practice in business analytics and start achieving it with Delivering Business Analytics.

Preface xi Acknowledgments xix Part One Business Analytics Best Practices 1 Chapter 1 Business Analytics: A Definition 5 What Is Business Analytics? 5 Core Concepts and Definitions 7 Chapter 2 The Competitive Advantage of Business Analytics 11 Advantages of Business Analytics 14 Challenges of Business Analytics 23 Establishing Best Practices 27 Part Two The Data Scientist’s Code 29 Chapter 3 Designing the Approach 31 Think about Competencies, Not Functions 31 Drive Outcomes, Not Insight 36 Automate Everything Non-Value-Added 38 Start Flexible, Become Structured 40 Eliminate Bottlenecks 43 Chapter 4 Creating Assets 47 Design Your Platform for Use, Not Purity 47 Always Have a Plan B 52 Know What You Are Worth 54 Own Your Intellectual Property 57 Minimize Custom Development 60 Chapter 5 Managing Information and Making Decisions 65 Understand Your Data 65 It’s Better to Have Too Much Data Than Too Little 69 Keep Things Simple 74 Function Should Dictate Form 77 Watch the Dynamic, Not Just the Static 79 Part Three Practical Solutions: People and Process 85 Chapter 6 Driving Operational Outcomes 87 Augmenting Operational Systems 88 Breaking Bottlenecks 98 Optimizing Monitoring Processes 106 Encouraging Innovation 113 Chapter 7 Analytical Process Management 127 Coping with Information Overload 128 Keeping Everyone Aligned 137 Allocating Responsibilities 144 Opening the Platform 151 Part Four Practical Solutions: Systems and Assets 159 Chapter 8 Computational Architectures 161 Moving Beyond the Spreadsheet 162 Scaling Past the PC 173 Staying Mobile and Connected 180 Smoothing Growth with the Cloud 183 Chapter 9 Asset Management 191 Moving to Operational Analytics 192 Measuring Value 202 Measuring Performance 210 Measuring Effort 220 Part Five Practical Solutions: Data and Decision Making 231 Chapter 10 Information Management 233 Creating the Data Architecture 234 Understanding the Data Value Chain 242 Creating Data-Management Processes 249 Capturing the Right Data 256 Chapter 11 Decision-Making Structures 263 Linking Analytics to Value 264 Reducing Time to Recommendation 269 Enabling Real-Time Scoring 277 Blending Rules with Models 284 Appendix The Cheat Sheets 291 Glossary 313 Further Reading 331 About the Author 333 Index 335