Strategies to scale analytics
In the previous unit, we focused on the technology used to scale analytics. In this unit we'll focus on other equally important aspects, people and process.
Scaling analytics and data use across an enterprise isn't possible with just great tools. This requires a cultural shift in which the technology becomes the easy piece to implement. Building a data culture, creating a community of practice, and implementing a data governance strategy are tangible ways to focus on people and process.
Just because there's been a massive increase in data generation over the last decade doesn't inherently mean we've equally increased our use of that data. Building a data culture, building a center of excellence, and supporting analytics practitioners with a community of practice are a few strategies to nurture data use.
Build a data culture
Building a data culture goes well beyond analytics solutions. Building and maintaining a data culture is a key aspect in an organization's digital transformation, and encourages a culture that makes data-informed decisions. Data culture can be defined in different ways, but generally data culture means a set of behaviors and norms in the organization that encourage data informed decision making.
It's important that you have a well-understood definition of what a healthy data culture means to your organization. This vision of a healthy data culture should:
- Originate from the executive level.
- Align with organizational objectives.
- Directly influence your adoption strategy.
- Serve as the high-level guiding principles for enacting governance policies and guidelines.
As an analyst working in a mid-size company, you may have more influence on the data culture than you recognize. Producing useful insights for decision makers often leaves them wanting more, which drives data use. Building a data culture may ideally originate from the executive level but data teams can act as advocates and evangelists.
Tip
Learn more about building a data culture in the Power BI adoption roadmap: data culture
Establish a Center of Excellence
An analytics Center of Excellence (COE) is an internal team in your organization whose role is to maximize the potential of analytics in the organization. An analytics COE is a focused initiative to achieve analytics at scale.
An analytics COE is traditionally made up of both technical and business experts who evangelize the data-driven culture and guide others in the uptake of analytics solutions. COE members provide expert advice to others and serve as a guiding force promoting the uptake of analytics solutions.
Tip
Learn more about how to establish your own Center of Excellence
Community of practice
A community of practice is a group of people with a common interest that interacts with, and helps, each other on a voluntary basis. Mastering analytics tools like Power BI creates common interests and encourages individuals across departments and teams to work towards a common goal.
Building a community of practice at your organization encourages knowledge sharing and can catalyze the building of a healthy data culture from the ground-up.
Tip
Learn more about building a community of practice in the Power BI adoption roadmap: Community of Practice
Building a data culture, building a center of excellence, and supporting analytics practitioners with a community of practice are only a few strategies to ensure that analytics will scale throughout your organization. These, combined with the right technologies will help your organization scale analytics solutions.