Pressures of being Data Driven

The importance of this kind of decision-making in a situation where SMEs have been put under a lot of duress, like the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, cannot be emphasized.

Though the future is still uncertain, planning can be done well. SMEs should analyse their operational processes while taking into account both recent environmental changes and historical tendencies. SME decision-makers can create strategies with a high likelihood of success by considering previous business difficulties and the solutions that helped resolve them.

In the end, doing this will increase business resilience regardless of what occurs in the external environment. As a result, data analytics offers organizations a strong, empirical basis based on company- and industry-specific facts on which to build future resilience.

SMEs, on the other hand, may view data analytics as a daunting endeavour if they have never used it before, and many have failed to bring about lasting change after using it.

Here are some potential causes that could lead to SMEs squandering a significant valuable resources while also failing to apply data practices:

Lack of Data Strategy and Data Governance: While businesses create elaborate road maps for AI and analytics, some neglect to create a data strategy and set up data governance frameworks. Lack of this basis inevitably results in several failure points.
Data Availability Issues: Data silos are a fact, and there will always be a number of interdependent levels when it comes to data organization. Delays in connecting to and gaining access to various data sources provide difficulties.
Poor data quality: The saying "garbage in, garbage out" may be overused, but it nevertheless applies to the difficulties enterprises confront when integrating AI and analytics.
A lack of labeled or ready data: Even if the data is clean, analytics, machine learning, and AI algorithms still need to be able to use it.
Lack of Data Readiness: Even if the data is clean, analytics, machine learning, and AI algorithms still require it to be prepared or tagged for use.
Necessary up-front investment: Lack of comprehension It's crucial to comprehend what data is and the value you may derive from it. You won't be able to take advantage of something if you don't comprehend it. It's crucial to educate yourself on new technologies, especially data, by reading about them and getting training. Remember that because technology is advancing so quickly, it is challenging to maintain perspective.
Software: The overwhelming issue in the data world is the complexity of all the current software. It necessitates specialized knowledge, which the majority of SMEs lack, as we have already indicated above. It takes time to comprehend the data landscape, select the appropriate tools, and learn how to use them. Time costs money.

If your actions aren't supported by facts, trying to predict how the market will alter the following season or looking for ways to keep customers won't likely provide any noticeable benefits. You can either start using data analytics to obtain all the necessary insights into your small business or you can continue to make educated guesses as to why your company spends a fortune on advertising yet receives no customers.

This is where 8c8 Cloud comes in where we will work with your team to utilise what you currently have and transform them into powerful actionable plans which we will execute together!

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