Democratizing Data: Unlocking the Power of Your Business Insights

Introduction

Data democratization is revolutionizing the way businesses access and utilize their data assets. In this blog, we delve into the transformative impact of data democratization and analytics engineering as discussed by industry leaders at the GoDataFest Cloud event.

Data Democratization and Analytics Engineering

• Kevin, Eduardo, and Bram are guests at the GoDataFest Cloud event to discuss data democratization and analytics engineering.

• Kevin is the commercial analytics manager at Interfood Group, a global dairy commodity trading business, which handles approximately a million metric tons of dairy products annually.

• Eduardo is the CTO of Funda, a prominent real estate platform in the Netherlands with around 6 million monthly visitors and 80 million total visits.

• Kevin emphasizes the importance of data in the commodity business, especially for prices and early access to information, and how it adds value to clients.

• Kevin also shares the journey of formalizing a data strategy at Interfood, focusing on derivatives, commercial excellence, and operational excellence.

• He mentions the challenges of aligning the organization, finding the right people, and training for data democratization, but highlights the eventual gains seen after the hard work.

• The company now dares to take on bigger data ambitions, addressing topics like prices and volatility with the power of data.

Data Democratization and its Impact

• Funda has traditionally focused on qualitative data obtained through customer interviews, but faced challenges due to longer feedback loops and data variations across different features.

• The organizational setup at Funda also posed challenges, with data science primarily focused on marketing, leading to underutilization of quantitative data in other areas.

• At GoDataDriven, common bottlenecks in organizations’ use of data were identified, including limited data availability, knowledge gaps, and data quality issues, all hindering effective decision-making.

• To address these bottlenecks, a white paper on data democratization was co-authored to make data more available and enable individuals within organizations to extract information and uncover opportunities themselves.

• Data democratization focuses on two main enablers: availability, which involves facilitating the discovery, usage, and distribution of data across the organization, and self-service, enabling individuals within the organization to use data for decision-making.

Transformation of Decision Making at Funda

• The biggest impact of the transformation at Funda has been the shift towards data-driven decision making.

• Monthly tactical meetings now focus more on metrics rather than qualitative feedback and opinions, making discussions more practical and efficient.

• This change has led to shorter meetings and more focused discussions, from executive level to internal team priorities.

• Eduardo, the CTO, played a crucial role in identifying the need for this transformation and leveraging the team to implement it effectively.

• The success was attributed to the great team understanding the strategic importance and delivering on the vision.

• The journey at Funda started with a theoretical document on data, but it was the team’s effort that enriched and built on the initial vision.

Retrofitting the Use of Tableau and Self-service in Organizations

• The process of democratizing the inside involves retrofitting the use of Tableau and building trust in new data processes within organizations.

• Transitioning from traditional tools like Excel to modern self-service tools like Tableau requires time, adoption, culture change, and adequate training to regain user confidence in the new technology.

• Organizations need to determine the timing and approach for increasing data availability and adopting self-service tools, and it’s crucial to emphasize gradual upward movement and showcase value at each step.

• Using the right tools at the right time is essential - starting with simpler tools and gradually advancing to advanced analytics based on the organization’s capabilities and data availability.

• Data availability, usability, and quality are key challenges organizations face, and the process of moving towards high-quality, valuable data requires robustness in data generation and usability.

The Changing Responsibilities Within Data Teams

• With the introduction of new data technologies and modern data platforms, the responsibilities within data teams have undergone significant changes.

• The availability of data and the central platform team’s role in providing training have led to a shift in focus towards creating added value through democratization of data services.

• Monitoring data quality, which was previously done by humans, is now potentially being handled by modern data tools, placing new responsibilities on both team members and technology.

• This evolution requires a mature organizational approach to ensure that new technologies can support increasingly important business processes such as finance, operations, and commercial decision making.

Conclusion

The era of data democratization is here, empowering organizations to harness the full potential of their data assets. By embracing self-service tools, driving digital transformation, and redefining data team responsibilities, businesses can drive data-driven decision-making and strategic growth in today’s data-rich environment.

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