United we stand, together we fall. Not too put too fine a point to it, but how your business and data strategies align are integral to your business. Today’s world is about change, being able to pivot toward new strategies, and being open to trying new things. Consider this: the “mom-and-pop” shop is back and it is flourishing. Younger generations of farmers are returning to their family farms when they graduate and they’re bringing new knowledge with them. And the makerspace, freelance, and gig economies are thriving. These businesses are learning how to work with technology and align their Data Strategy with their Business strategy. Some legacy enterprises are taking notice. Others are missing the mark. Consumers may have changed how they want to shop and learn about services and products, but the services they want and expect haven’t changed that much which is why it’s more important than ever to “know your customer.”
3 Key Elements of Integrated Strategies
While there are a number of things to take into consideration as you align your strategies, these three key elements can help get you started.
1. Understand the key elements of Business Strategy. 2. Apply innovation strategy to business objectives. 3. Determine key elements of your Data Strategy for use in a real-world scenario.
Understand the key elements of business strategy
A business strategy encapsulates two main ideas; cost advantage versus competition. The cost advantage includes costs and other resources, identification and awareness of strengths, weaknesses, and competition. Competitive advantage happens when you’ve done your market research and can show what makes you different from any other provider with similar goods and services. This is the time you might perform a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and threat) analysis of your business. It’s helpful to include your mission and vision statements, objectives, core values, risk tolerance, and understanding trends in your business.
Apply Innovation Strategy to Business Objectives
Ideas and innovation flow when you and your business understand your customers and are able to easily shift into new things. Think R&D into Bioinformatics, automated tasks into AI, or a platform such as streaming services to help sell services such as insurance. Laying the groundwork to apply innovation strategies to your business objectives follow these ideas:
Identify your business objectives by asking questions.
Assess the budget and personnel resources and develop a budget strategy.
Test the market to determine what issues will or need to be solved and understand how this innovation will benefit your overall strategy.
If you’re working on a Data initiative to integrate into your Business strategy, one of the key elements is to determine how those changes may affect your business.
Determine Key Elements of Data Strategy for Use in Real-World Scenarios
As you work on developing your Data Strategy, it’s important to consider all the elements required to ensure success. So, what do you need to take into consideration when working on this type of strategy? Here are some things to consider as you develop your framework.
Determine your business needs and their current state.
Determine what works and what can be improved upon if there is a technology improvement or process.
Evaluate your Data from sales, profit, and evaluate your progress.}
Develop an action plan.
Many businesses don’t incorporate just one type of Data into their strategy. They consider the potential impact of technologies such as Machine Learning, Predictive and Data Analytics, and other Big Data Strategies to drive improvements when it comes to decision making. They understand these Data-driven insights can help them improve or solve their most critical problems. There is a caveat, however, and it is how you collect the information for real-world scenarios. Certain requirements are in place for a reason and they ensure only relevant Data is collected. This is done by formulating “predictive models” and necessary information to operate and determine whether your case will be something to be done over time or if it’s something brand new to consider when looking at real-time access.
One Final Thought…
Data-centric organisations have a distinct advantage over their competition. The information gained from collecting and analysing to understanding their customers can offer great insight as to what’s working and what isn’t. Integrating your Business Strategy with a Data Strategy can offer you a more well-rounded understanding of the customers you serve and can ultimately, help you to serve them better; now and in the future. Disruptive business models from this way of thinking can also foster growth and lead to innovative changes in your marketplace.
If you want to be at the forefront of change we may have a role or candidate for you. Take a look at our latest opportunities or get in touch with one of our expert consultants to find out more.
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