With all the buzz around data science & big data technologies these days, it is very easy to go overboard – without you and your organization being ready to unlock the true potential of data. Here is a quick and easy 10-step guide to using analytics.

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XTAGE
Analyze. Predict. Improve.
Gurgaon, India
10 step guide to using analytics
Kumar Kashyap
Arijit Ganguly

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INTRODUCTION
Analytics is all about using data to identify trends, validate
hypotheses, and predict future outcomes. Communication of results
through charts and graphs is a part of data visualizations.
With all the buzz around data & big data technologies these days, it is
very easy to go overboard – without you and your organization being
ready to unlock the true potential of data. Here is a quick and easy
10-step guide to using analytics.
You can read the complete article on our blog.

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1NE
The first thing you need to do is identify
the problems you want to solve using
analytics. You should know that
analytics is not a magic wand that will
make all your problems disappear. Data
can answer almost all questions – but
for that to happen, you need to ask the
right questions.
Define the problem
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2WO
One of the reasons analytics can never
be 100% machine-driven is that
decision making is always a selection
between choices – that can at best be
rank-ordered, but there would always
be an element of philosophy, reason,
experience, future plans in making a
selection of choice today.
Analytics cannot
replace choice
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3HREE
Estimate the amount of benefits that
you expect to draw from analytics. It is
not always easy to express the benefits
of analytics in terms of revenue. You
need to identify the right metrics to
communicate the benefits of analytics.
Estimate Analytics
Return on
Investment (RoI)

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4OUR
Once you understand the benefits of
analytics, develop a clear roadmap of
what you want to achieve with
analytics, and how you want to achieve
those goals – whether you want to build
an in-house team, or you want your
analytics tasks to be completely
outsourced. You could also choose a
combination of the above two.
Build a roadmap
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5IVE
You also need to define whether your
organization is going to pursue a siloed
approach to implementing analytics or
whether you want to view it as an
organization-wide effort. Both the
approaches have their pros and cons,
and a rational decision, which works
best for your organization, needs to be
taken.
Siloed or
Integrated?
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6IX
Define clear data governance rules,
including data ownership, architecture,
policies, data quality, rules for resolving
data related issues and policies for data
management. Depending on your
operations, you might have access to
private data, which needs to be
protected. Proper data security,
confidentiality and access rules need to
be defined.
Data Governance
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7EVEN
A lot can be inferred by looking at
simple one-dimensional graphs and
cross-tabulations. Simple graphs can
help you spot anomalies or identify
trends. In the age of big data, do not
ignore the power of simpler analytical
methods.
Graphical
Analysis

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8IGHT
Not all people are apt in handling
and interpreting data. Identify
people within your organization who
are more comfortable than others in
handling data. Analytics is always
contextual, and the more
experienced a person is within your
organization, the better s/he can
contextualize analytics.
Identify Experts

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9INE
While it is a nice idea to use in-
house expertise, asking for
external help can enable you
identify the best way forward to
solve a problem analytically.
Even if you have sufficient
expertise, sometimes, having an
external perspective helps you
see things differently.
Engage Analytics
Consultants

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10EN
Any successful strategy needs to
evolve with time. The same is true
for analytics. You should not
expect to use the same
techniques or the same model
over and over again. The
problems need to be revisited
over time for getting the best
return out of your analytical
exercise.
Test, Learn and
Modify
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THANK YOU
Please send any questions / feedback to
kumar.kashyap@xtagelabs.com
arijit.ganguly@xtagelabs.com
Check out more examples and case
studies on how we help organizations
using data, analytics and visualization.