Technology recruiter Xpand recently published an in-depth article on the state of big data, data science and analytics in Australia. The story covers why organisations need analytics, how corporate Australia is making use of big data and data science, and the current talent shortage, as well as offering some predictions for the future of the field.
Report author Alec Smith identified Presciient as one of the small proportion of Australian analytics consultancies that offer “real, advanced, value-adding analytics” focused on improving organisations’ performance. Smith asked Presciient managing director Dr Eugene Dubossarsky why this is, and where we tend to find analytics being used most effectively.
Dubossarsky explained that one reason for the low visibility of truly effective analytics may be that firms want to keep it hidden. As he explained to Smith,
one characteristic – perhaps unsurprisingly – is that it tends to occur in organisations whose very survival depends on analytics. And they are typically the ones who aren’t shouting about it.
Analytics is also often used to greatest effect in high-stakes arenas outside of the corporate world—professional sports, politics, and tax enforcement—where we may not be looking for it.
Finally, if we want to see where businesses are making the best use of analytics, Dr Dubossarsky points us to owner-managed firms, where “leaders have obvious ‘skin in the game’.” The overall trend seems to be that we will find the most powerful uses of analytics in situations where stakeholders have the most to lose—or gain—from their organisations’ performance.
Image courtesy of Xpand.