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Harnham blog & news

With over 10 years experience working solely in the Data & Analytics sector our consultants are able to offer detailed insights into the industry.

Visit our Blogs & News portal or check out our recent posts below.

Weekly News Digest: 5th - 9th April 2021

This is Harnham’s weekly news digest, the place to come for a quick breakdown of the week’s top news stories from the world of Data & Analytics.    The Drum: How data visualisation turns marketing metrics into business intelligence Gathering data is just one part of a marketer’s job but having the ability to turn this data into something visually stunning, informative and easy to use is another skill completely.  Marketers, on the whole, are extremely visual learners along with around 65 per cent of the population. Most of us are able to absorb data more effectively if the information being presented to us is done in such a way that is pleasing to the eye. And this is why Data Visualisation exists; it allows us to group, organise and represent data sets in a way that allows us to analyse larger quantities of information, compare findings, spot patterns and extract meaningful insights from raw data. Not only does Data Visualisation allow us to learn more effectively, but we can then turn this understanding into much broader and deeper Business Intelligence.  To read more on the positives of Data Visualisation and how to translate this into meaningful Business Intelligence, click here.  ZDNet: The five Vs of customer data platforms According to ZDNet, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are the hottest marketing technology today, offering companies a way to capture, unify, activate, and analyse customer data. Research done in 2020 by Salesforce showed that CDPs were among the highest priority investments for CMOs in 2021. If you’re planning to invest in a CDP this year, what five critical things do you need to think about when developing a successful strategy? ZDNet tells all.  Velocity - Your systems need to manage a high volume of data, coming in at various speeds.Variety - Every system has a slightly different main identifier or "source of truth," and the goal is to have one. This starts with being able to provision a universal information model, or schema, which can organize all of the differently labelled data into a common taxonomy. Veracity - Companies must ensure they can provision a single, persistent profile for every customer or account.Volume - It has been theorized that, in 2020, 1.7MB of data was created every second for every person on Earth. If you want to use those interactions to form the basis of your digital engagement strategy, you have to store them somewhere. Value - Once you have a clean, unified set of scaled data – now’s the time to think about how to derive value from it.  To learn more, read the full article here. Towards Data Science: How to Prepare for Business Case Interview Questions as a Data Scientist When you think of Data Science, the first thing that comes to mind will be technical knowledge of coding languages and fantastic statistical ability; softer skills such as communication and exceptional business knowledge may be overlooked. However, this is where many budding Data Scientists trip up. It is these softer skills and business acumen that sets brilliant candidates apart from others.  But how, when not usually taught at university, do you gather the business knowledge that will set you apart from the competition and showcase it in interview? Towards Data Science shares a few key pointers. Build a foundation – Brush up on your business basics. Research project management methodologies, organisational roles, tools, tech and metrics - all are crucial here. Company specifics – Research your company and its staff. Make sure your knowledge is tailored to the company you’re interviewing for. Products – This is where you’ll stand out above the rest if you get it right. The more you can know the ins and outs of products and metrics at the company, the more prepared you will be to answer business case questions. Read the full article here.  Harnham: Amped up Analytics: Google Analytics 4 Joshua Poore, one of our Senior Managers based in the US West division of Harnham, explores Google’s new and improved data insight capabilities, predominantly across consumer behaviours and preferences.  This exciting new feature of Google was born in the last quarter of 2020 and has now fully come into its infancy, and it’s an exciting time for Data & Analytics specialists across the globe. Joshua explores four key advantages of Google Analytics 4.0. Combined data and reporting - Rather than focusing on one property (web or app) at a time, this platform allows marketers to track a customer’s journey more holistically. A focus on anonymised data - By crafting a unified user journey centred around machine learning to fill in any gaps, marketers and businesses have a way to get the information they need without diving into personal data issues.Predictive metrics - Using Machine Learning to predict future transactions is a game changer for the platform. These predictive metrics for e-commerce sites on Google properties allow for targeted ads to visitors who seem most likely to make a purchase within one week of visiting the site. Machine Learning driven insights - GA4 explains it “has machine learning at its core to automatically surface helpful insights and gives you a complete understanding of your customers across devices and platforms.” Machine Learning-driven insights include details that elude human analysts.  To read Joshua’s full insights on GA4, click here.  We've loved seeing all the news from Data & Analytics in the past week, it’s a market full of exciting and dynamic opportunities. To learn more about our work in this space, get in touch with us at  info@harnham.com.   

Daniel Lewis

Daniel Lewis

09. April 2021

How Are Life Science Analytics Innovating For A Post-Pandemic World?

As COVID-19 unfolded, the Life Science discipline was thrust into the spotlight. The pandemic has shown the extent of the Life Sciences industry’s ability to innovate and collaborate. When facing a new disease, Life Sciences adapted quickly. The rate at which pharmaceutical companies successfully developed COVID-19 vaccines was unprecedented. Approaches that may have previously been labelled risky, were implemented to manage changing demand and deliver increased throughput. Embracing digitisation and innovation enabled organisations to adapt and accept constant change. The pandemic has shown just how well the Life Science industry is able to innovate and develop according to changing demands. As the world looks to the future, how can Life Sciences continue to remain dynamic?  Cloud data The cloud is becoming a CEO agenda item for Life Sciences. The cloud has the potential to enable more effective and profitable ways of doing business throughout the life science industry. It offers a powerful, secure platform for innovation and collaboration, with immense transactional power and data throughput. The cloud is necessary for creating data enablement, ensuring the right data is in the right place at the right time. It enables companies to innovate faster, work at a greater scale and increase collaboration.  Virtual communication According to Accenture, sixty-one per cent of healthcare professionals now communicate more with pharmaceutical sale reps than before the pandemic. 87 per cent now want either purely virtual or a blend of in-person and virtual meetings post-pandemic.  New means of virtual communication have created new opportunities in the industry. Digitisation allows for increased communication with trial participants and new opportunities to educate people about their conditions and care. There was already a growing trend for virtual healthcare interactions, but the pandemic has shifted this is into becoming the new normal. Collaboration ecosystem COVID-19 has led to increasing collaboration between companies. The race for a vaccine has seen cooperation evolve at an extraordinary pace. Companies who usually compete are now coming together to share data and cooperate. Organisations have created collaborative agreements in a matter of weeks; partnerships that pre-pandemic would have taken years to create.  The industry is now seeing the value of ecosystem partnership. The success of organisations post-pandemic relies on this continued collaboration.  AI and blockchain technology COVID-19 has increased the focus on AI in Life Sciences. Yet, Life Sciences have only scratched the surface of AI capabilities. AI has the potential to transform the industry; it can design novel compounds, identify genetic targets, expedite drug development and improve supply chains. The use of AI in Life Sciences is expected to continue to grow and organisations will need to focus ever more on merging human knowledge and AI capabilities.  Blockchain is also becoming increasingly trusted in Life Sciences. Its ability to create tamper-proof records makes it a key resource in increasing patient trust in remote clinical trials. As more of the industry understands the skills needed to use blockchain and increases collaboration, blockchain has the potential to become ubiquitous in Life Sciences. The pandemic has shown the importance of digital technology in Life Sciences. Digitisation increases efficiency and, collaboration, and also helps create a framework for future scientific discoveries. As we look towards a post-pandemic world, a successful Life Science industry must continue to embrace this mindset of innovation, collaboration and dynamism.  If you’re in the world of Data & Analytics and looking to take a step up or find the next member of your team, we can help. Take a look at our latest opportunities or get in touch with one of our expert consultants to find out more.

Krishen Patel

Krishen Patel

08. April 2021

Weekly News Digest: 29th March - 1st April 2021

This is Harnham’s weekly news digest, the place to come for a quick breakdown of the week’s top news stories from the world of Data & Analytics.    Forbes: 5 converging trends driving the need to know and trust your users online Over the past 12 months, digital transformation has boomed. In this new remote era, more and more people are taking to their phones or laptops to undertake traditionally ‘offline’ tasks. This uptake of digital is evidenced through a recent study by J.D Power which states that nearly a third of new account opening, such as bank accounts, are done via a website of mobile app, a 50 per cent increase compared to only a year ago.  While efficient and much faster than consumers having to go into a physical bank, there are many dangers that lay in wait for both brand and consumer. From data breaches to the dark web, privacy regulations to fraud, businesses much ensure they have strong identity orchestration capabilities to keep users and their identities safe online.  Read more on this article here. TechCrunch: Facebook makes it easier to view a non-algorithmic news feed Any social media platform’s algorithm is the bane of any users’ experience. The way in which news feeds are shaped are purely shaped by the company’s own algorithms which, very often, are not reflective of what we want to see. Businesses have also struggled for many years to get themselves seen and heard by the correct audience on sites like Facebook due to the ever-changing and, frankly, confusing algorithm it employs.   However, it was announced this week that Facebook have finally created a feature that allows users to see a version of their news feed that isn’t algorithmically moulded. This includes aspects such as a ‘favourites’ view that displays posts from up to 30 of your favourite friends and pages, as well as a ‘most recent’ view which shows posts in chronological order. Read more on this here. Builtin: Nine SMS marketing tools to know  Many brands choose to use SMS Marketing over email, as it has been shown to be more effective. While email open rates usually sit around 20 per cent, SMS open rates beat this three-fold with usual open rates of around 82 per cent. Additionally, SMS marketing is a much more human, intimate way of talking to consumers, an important aspect of communication emails still miss.  This informative article by Builtin helps those new to SMS marketing by guiding them through nine of the best tools to use to get started. PostscriptAttentiveSMSBumpSlickTextSimpleTextingOctane AIKlayviyoOmnisendSubtext While all are used to send texts and facilitate relationships between brand and consumer, each is designed differently in order to best serve the brand’s needs and wants from this style of marketing.  To learn about each platform, click here.   Praxis: How to prepare for a Data Engineering interview Preparation for any interview is key. The more learning and research you have undertaken, therefore the more knowledge you can take to the table, the more likely your interviewer is to sit up and listen. So, what exactly should you focus on if you’re heading into an interview for a Data Engineering role? This brilliant article from Praxis gives eight great pointers, here a few examples:  Programming and coding skills – Ensure you know how to use optimal data structure and algorithms to handle potential data issues. Know your tools – Get acquainted with popular open-source libraries such as Spark, Pandas, Hadoop and Kafka. Languages are important too, knowledge around Java, Python, HTML, CSS and JavaScript will set you apart from the competition.Be a pro at SQL – SQL is one of the most essential skills for any Data Engineer, make sure you know it inside out.  To learn what else you need to know to be best prepared for your Data Engineer interview, read the full article here.  We've loved seeing all the news from Data & Analytics in the past week, it’s a market full of exciting and dynamic opportunities. To learn more about our work in this space, get in touch with us at info@harnham.com.  

Joe Gibbs

Joe Gibbs

01. April 2021

Weekly News Digest - 22nd - 26th March 2021

This is Harnham’s weekly news digest, the place to come for a quick breakdown of the week’s top news stories from the world of Data & Analytics.   Silicon Republic: Eight ways to stay productive while working from home This week marked a whole year since the entirety of the UK entered lockdown for the first time as a response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The crisis was expected to blow over in a matter of weeks but here we are, a full 12 months on with at least 12 more weeks to go until the country eases back into some sort of normal.  Employees have faced, and coped with, extreme challenges over the past year, but tethers are beginning to wear thin and Zoom fatigue is rife.  In this great article by Silicon Republic, author Lisa Ardill gives eight ways to stay motivated and productive when working from home in 2021; from planning your work schedule to adding greenery to your workspace, keeping in touch with colleagues regularly and taking exercise breaks.  Read up on the full eight tips here to help refresh your remote working strategy.  Analytics Insight: How businesses can benefit from Augmented Analytics Augmented Analytics is an approach of data analytics that combines the use of specialist technologies such as AI, Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to automate analysis usually done by a data scientist. It simplifies the process and makes it much easier for businesses to understand actionable insights and implement changes where needed.  This article in Analytics Insight explores other key areas where Augmented Analytics can benefit businesses, for example: Boosting online visibility Improving reliability of recommendations Expanding the range of possibilities  And as Augmented Analytics, and the capabilities of Data & Analytics, improves over the coming years, there are countless benefits these technologies could have on businesses in decades to come.  Read more on this here. Econsultancy: How Confused.com rebuilt its brand through customer insight The comparison market is a busy, lively and competitive space, with numerous characters and brand figures all battling for our attention - from meerkats to opera singers and bulls in china shops. However, one company who were struggling to cut through the noise with the right brand character was Confused.com. While it ran its ‘Drivers Win’ campaign, which featured none other than British Actor and American chat show host, James Corden, they just weren’t getting the consumer engagement they needed.  As stated by CMO of Confused.com, Samuel Day; “There was incredible prompted awareness – incredible, in the 90% range, but there was very low spontaneous awareness. The ads had very high recall – but not for Confused.com.” Consumers didn’t put James Corden and Confused.com together.   It took a shift of thinking to fix the problem: a revisit to the brand’s ethos and values, a longer-term strategy and, most importantly, valuable customer insight. From there, the company was able to understand the problem, fix it and make Confused.com the well-known consumer brand it is today.  Read more on this story here.  The FinTech Times: How Data privacy will accelerate digital ID adoption In this article for FinTech Times, Adam Desmond, the UK&I Country Lead at Mitek, shares his thoughts on how data privacy will accelerate digital ID adoption. As our world becomes ever-increasingly virtual, and the majority of our transactions occur online, the risk of cyber breaches grows with it. Only last year, 75 per cent of large companies in the UK reported a data breach – a shocking statistic and a real worry for consumers. Desmond stated that the only way to combat this is for businesses to implement stronger, more robust, Digital ID processes. In the same way that you would be asked for ID when buying alcohol or a signature would be needed in the bank, the same should be happening online.  However, as with anything online, by inputting sensitive data, we open ourselves up to potential fraud risks. But Desmond believes this doesn’t have to be the case.  “Digital identities could actually be a solution to withholding unnecessary data and protect us from fraud – not open ourselves up to it. For digital identity adoption to be successful, consumers need to trust that their data is safe and secure. This all comes down to how we build these digital identities, and who looks after them.” Read more on this here.  We've loved seeing all the news from Data & Analytics in the past week, it’s a market full of exciting and dynamic opportunities. To learn more about our work in this space, get in touch with us at info@harnham.com. 

Joshua Poore

Joshua Poore

26. March 2021

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