Foreword

“Digital Transformation,” “Data Democratization,” “Data is the new oil” – phrases that have been thrown at us so many times they have made us numb. That said, they do make for a great game of Buzzword Bingo if you’re at a loose end. 

As a business leader, you’re acutely aware that competitiveness is tightening, new market entrants are challenging the incumbents – and solving your data challenge is critical to success. No buzzwords required.As someone who has spent most of his career helping organizations realize the value of their data, what I do know is that data has a pulse. It’s a living entity that is constantly growing, evolving and creating new connections; and it needs to be treated as such. Yet we continue to accept systems that inform us to a point, but don’t react to data that is alive and can’t compel action in the business moment. 

In today’s ‘always-on’, ‘right-now’ mindset, your customers and employees expect that you can make decisions and take action as an event happens. The ultimate position to be in is when you are set up, and have the confidence, to take a different action; it’s that unexpected action that drives transformation and creates the real value. Passive, historical data sets residing in systems that can’t trigger action will not help you meet these expectations and get the rewards. 

But how do you get there? How do you switch from a state of passive to “Active” business intelligence?  

To better understand the challenges and the possibilities, we’ve asked a number of world-class business authors, academics and commentators to give their perspective.

The contributors spoke to leaders from companies across the world who have innovated the way they manage their data, and established a culture of informed action in their organizations to support them even in the most disruptive times. From understanding the power of humans and technology making decisions together, to building an intelligent analytics data pipeline that can react in real time, to ensuring the whole workforce can have trust and confidence in every decision they make – this edition unpacks it all.

I hope their articles hit on areas that resonate with you, and provide you with food for thought on new ideas and how you can get more value from your data.