Data Driven Success

This is the final article in a series which discusses the importance of being data driven and provides a no-nonsense guide on how to best transition your organisation.  This article details how to implement your dream data solution.

PART 5: Implementing your Dream Data Solution

Going for a big bang deployment is almost certainly going to be problematic and has a high chance of failing to deliver.  Ideally, you want to start with a well constrained proof of concept with one or two systems and relatively clean data.

Proof of Concept

The aim of this proof of the concept is to ensure that your chosen technology will work with your systems and in your environment.  You want to be able to identify any potential problems early, while you still have a chance to change direction.

I would advocate for using Agile over Waterfall as a development methodology.  In other words, break the project down into two weekly chunks or sprints as they are called.  Let your deliverables vary but keep your timescales nailed down.  This will allow you to flex your plans as an when issues or changes in requirements inevitably occur.

Resourcing

Implementation can be a long process and you need to accept that the programme may run into many months or even years.  It is therefore important to ring-fence resources to work on the project. If your team members are being distracted by their day jobs, then your project will run into delays and may eventually grind to a halt and never actually deliver at all.

Ideally, the project should be sponsored at board level by a director with overall responsibility for delivery. This need not necessarily be an IT director, but it should be someone with the appropriate authority to address and resolve problems and to drive the project forward.

Depending on the size of the project, you may also need a Project Manager, Business Analyst and of course, you will need technical resource.

Another important consideration is whether to try to deliver the technical component of the project in-house or to use external resource.  If you are planning to run the project in-house, either with existing staff or by recruiting for the project, then beware of these pitfalls:

• As mentioned earlier, internal resources are more likely to be distracted by their day jobs unless seconded on a full-time basis. This is the surest way to ensure that your project is a failure.

• Be realistic about the capability of your current staff, particularly if you are asking them to step into a new role. Do they really have the desire and capability to learn new skills and technologies?  How will you up-skill them and how long will that take?

• If you are relying on a single individual, are you introducing a single point of failure? What will you do if they leave the organisation or are unavailable for an extended period of time, for example, long-term sick leave?

• Ideally you will want at least two individuals who are suitably skilled. What does that do to your budget, both in terms of wages and recruitment costs?

• How quickly can you free up existing resource or hire and onboard new starters?

• How critical are the project deadlines? What are the risks of failing to deliver?  Would external resource de-risk your project?

If you are considering using external resources, either to fully outsource the technical complement or to enhance your existing team, then be careful to think about the following:

• How will you find a suitable partner for the project? Can you get recommendations from someone you trust or arrange for a reference call with one of their existing customers?

• Are they willing to do knowledge transfer and help to up-skill your team?

• Will they provide an individual to work on the project or a team? This again comes back to the single point of failure.

• What are their data security processes and policies? You need to ensure that any data you share with them will be safe and destroyed at the end of the project.

• What billing arrangement will you have with them, fixed fee vs. day rate? There are pros and cons of each approach.  With fixed fee, you need to be very clear in your brief and will need to avoid scope creep.  With a day rate, you can be more agile and iterate to ensure you get the right solution.

• Do you need full-time or will part-time suffice? You don’t want to be paying a contractor to sit around doing nothing while they are waiting on a deliverable from you. Having a flexible arrangement, where the contractor only charges for the time they actually spend working on your project can be very cost-effective and potentially even cheaper than running the project in-house.

• How will the solution be maintained in the future? Are you looking for a long-term relationship with the contractor or will you bring that in-house?  How difficult will it be to change supplier in the future?

If you do go down the route of using external resource, then try to ensure that they are embedded into your team and that you build a really strong working relationship.  The closer you work together, the lower the risk of miscommunication and the greater the chance of delivering a successful project.

Pay off

I would just like to conclude by imagining that you have undergone the journey of going from data-blind to data-driven and look at some of the advantages you should enjoying.

Firstly, you will be able to clearly measure your return on investment. You should be seeing increases in efficiency, where unproductive manual processes have been automated by technology.  This will be realised in either cost savings or the ability of your teams to process more work.

However, don’t forget that the benefits will be both quantitative and qualitative.

Your data, while it may not be pristine, should be a lot cleaner and consistent.  This will naturally improve over time as the data is used.

You will have the ability to see the big picture, but with the granularity to access to data insights and be able to spot hereto hidden trends.  Your reports should be interactive and informative, providing you with the insights to manage your organisation efficiently.

You will have the means to easily interrogate your data, hunting for the next areas to improve.

Reports should be automatically generated and proactively driven to you to suit your schedule.

To Conclude:

But this isn’t the end, it is a feedback loop.  The information gathered and lessons learnt will inform the next cycle of improvements to be made.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this topic in more detail, then you are more than welcome to contact me with any of the following contact details at the end of this article.