The world is undergoing immense changes at an incredible pace, so any opinion without being substantiated by data has no value. Developing a new innovative product or service based on instinct or opinion, may not be successful.
Data Analysis (DA)
The terms, Data Analytics and Data Analysis are sometimes confused but there is an immense difference between the two. Data analysis is a process of studying, refining, transforming, and modeling, past data to gain useful information, suggest conclusions and make decisions. The outcome of Data Analysis is to
- i) Improve sales opportunities,
- ii) Reduce sales/ purchase lead time,
- iii) Increase revenue,
- iv) Selection of vendor and procurement management,
- v) Better machine and manpower utilisation, vi) Risk management,
- vii) Cost control,
- viii) Financial/ HR Management decisions etc.
On the other hand, Data Analytics (DA) helps organisation by utilizing the potential of its data to identify new opportunities and helps businesses to frame the way forward. It highlights the customer’s sentiment and comes up with new products or services. DA unlocks the right information that is needed for the growth of an Organisation. The outcome of DA is to
- i) Find trends,
- ii) Uncover opportunities,
- iii) Predict actions to take the advantages of the opportunities.
DA is the science of analysing data which sets to find trends, answer questions, and draw conclusions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) increases the computing power to deliver faster, accurate and valuable insights than what a human can. AI has revolutionised human-machine interaction and has played a vital role in DA. AI and DA is the power to analyse and learn about large amounts of data from multiple sources and detect patterns to make future trend predictions.
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In this era of disruptive technology and competition, assessing the advancement of an organisation is possible only through Data Analysis, DA and AI. Data is now an integral part of any business. Decision-making process is the most difficult and challenging task of the management. It will be more intimidating when there is steep competition in the business. In this situation, DA and AI helps in framing new strategic goals and navigating remedies for new challenges to keep the organisation steady.
Through DA and AI business leaders tend to guess how to improve business process to overcome the present turbulence to sustain in future. Monthly, quarterly or yearly information regarding performance is not of much help for an organisation to gain a significant competitive advantage. Simple data bank on
- i) how many units produced,
- ii) how much labour hours used,
- iii) the cost of raw material inputs,
- iv) wastages,
- v) labour / machine down time,
- vi) utility cost,
- vii) other overhead cost etc.
are necessary for various MIS reporting to the management. The real value comes from manipulating the data to know how to improve the performance in future.
An organisation having a robust repository of granular data is in a better position to take decisions with the help of DA and AI. By using DA, the department managers, finance team, and leaders develop various models/ modules to offer a set of best strategies and practices. AI is also enabling organizations to develop new products and services which were not imagined even just a few years ago with slight changes from its existing resources/ facilities. These new products and services are the game-changer of the organisation.
The growth of a business in future can be measured by the parameters like:
- i) brand image,
- ii) cost savings,
- iii) product/ service quality,
- iv) market dynamics,
- v) customer choice,
- vi) competitive advantage through innovation,
- vii) openness to new ideas,
- viii) technological capabilities and its upgradation,
- ix) know key competitors,
- x) financial efficiency.
DA and AI produce evolving ideas on the above-mentioned parameters and highlights how and when to depart from the existing practices and start implementing new ideas to offer better product/ service to customers. Below are the examples of the companies using DA and AI to gain a competitive edge:
Netflix:
A predictive analysis has been done by utilising the power of DA and AI on their data to assess what exactly the customers are interested to watch and Create New Blockbuster Web Series/ Movies.
DBS Bank:
Transforming from just a Bank to Trusted Financial Advisor by analysing the pain points of customers and to giving the best customized financial solutions with the help of DA and AI.
Shell:
The company uses DA and AI for better inventory plan like when to purchase machine parts, how long to keep them, and where to place inventory items to reduce the inventory cost by running predictive models to foresee when its different oil drilling machine parts might fail.
UBER:
uber utilises DA and AI to inform drivers to move to areas ahead of times in order to take the advantages of inevitable rise in demand, for detecting frauds, evaluating risks, optimizing the route. Also, in various remaining parts of its application to provide availability, faster and more efficient ride.
Zomato:
By using DA Zomato predicts lot of challenges in real time, including last-mile delivery of food orders, allocation of delivery partners, estimation of time for preparation of food by restaurants and its solutions to provide better customer experience.
Swiggy:
The company by using DA and AI increased the order value to double in a year. Through AI driven initiatives such as forecasting demand, inventory optimization, dynamic order prioritisation, intelligent kitchen capacity management, food quality management the company achieved WOW@ level of Customer Expectations.
@ WOW is an expression of customer’s authentic interest on the company who seeks their services, not just in the transaction
OYO:
The Company utilise DA to identify the right demand and predict the next best action for each user to enhance their experience. By using Google Maps Platform OYO Hotels increases booking and improves user experience by providing reliable and comprehensive location information. The company carry out the operation by leveraging DA and AI to drive efficiency, reduce friction, and by predicting customer behaviour.
AirBnB:
The company originally designed for AirBed and Breakfast provided to temporary living quarters, breakfast and business networking opportunities for those who were unable to book a place to stay for local events due to high demand. By shifting to DA and AI powered search algorithms the company matches people who are looking for accommodation (guests) in a particular city with people who are willing to rent out their place. The Guests can also connect with the hosts based on the listings they prefer to stay in. Now it is a $ 25.5 billion valuation company.
By taking the advantages of DA and AI, these companies not only Sustained in this competitive world but also established themselves as leading brands.
Nevertheless, the giant companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Tesla uses DA and IA in their every aspect of operation. The rate of adoption of DA and AI by Indian companies has been phenomenal in the last 5 years. As market conditions drive companies to be more efficient the reliance on analytics will continue to grow. Banks like ICICI, HDFC, IDBI, Standard Chartered, RBI, Axis Bank, in retail sector like Shopper’s Stop, Titan, Reliance retail, Spencer’s, Arvind mills, Tanishq, Planet M, 3M India Limited, others like Honeywell Automation, Times of India, Bharat matrimony etc. use DA to gain a competitive edge.
These are just a handful of examples. Apart from these companies, there are plenty of others like these that have employed DA and AI to influence its power and dominancy in business. It is now undeniable fact that DA and AI is grasping a huge impact in human lives as well as the society in a plethora of ways. There’s no doubt that DA and AI is already changing how businesses operate – whether through task automation, insight generation, or other uses. DA and AI is making the Science Fictions of the past to Fact in present. “The core advantage of data is that it tells you something about the world that you didn’t know before.” – Hilary Mason