How to get top-level buy-in for “zero-click” intelligence
In this guest blog post, Rob Davis, vice president of product management at MicroStrategy, discusses how CIOs can spread the use of data analytics to reach 100% of the enterprise.
Enterprise mobility continues to be a key focus for CIOs. According to research from Oxford Economics, 80% of IT execs, CEOs and other senior managers say workers cannot do their jobs effectively without a mobile device. Mobile working means so much more than simply email or network access; the field of data analytics on-the-go is also on the rise.
Staff across the entire enterprise could potentially access data analytics and make a valuable contribution to the business, but often they’re not even given the option. CIOs have a real opportunity to ‘democratise data’ throughout the organisation with mobile technology, and while data analytics skills have often been a barrier, new developments such as our zero-click intelligence could make the difference.
What is zero-click intelligence?
Typically, data analysis will occur over a dashboard and involve a sequence of clicks to access valuable information, but ‘zero-click’ changes all that, presenting instant insights to users wherever they are.
Zero-click intelligence, in our view, fits seamlessly into users’ existing workflow, automatically scanning every webpage they visit and underlining relevant keywords. Business users can simply hover highlighted keywords to surface content-rich, friction-less insights on websites and other applications, like email, Salesforce or Office 365.
This means that, with minimal training, employees across the board – even those who are not data-literate – can access valuable data on a mobile device to help them make an informed decision. That could be on the shop floor, the stockroom, the contact centre or essentially in any work environment.
How to get senior buy-in
Senior support – cultural, structural and financial – is critical to the success of rolling out data analytics throughout the enterprise. Here are the steps CIOs can take to secure the support of senior decision makers, many of whom will not have a data background themselves.
Build the business case: Real-time analytics with zero-click intelligence, in our view, empowers mobile workforces to access critical data on-the-go, which enables them to make critical decisions there and then. This completely transforms the way some people work: for example, construction professionals can use Augmented Reality (AR) on-site to superimpose data against imagery of their site and make decisions there and then. Likewise, retailers can check for stock from a mobile device to answer customer queries instantly on the shop floor, and healthcare professionals can gain critical patient data at the bedside.
Develop advocates: For a new way of working to take off, it needs its champions; people within the business who can be exponents for the technology, demonstrate the value to their colleagues and potentially train them.
Test and Learn: Only by using zero-click intelligence and opening it up across the organisation will you understand the full potential of where it could be deployed across the business
Pivot and improve: As with any IT project, you will have learnings that you can take away and improve on with zero-clicks analytics, but the possibilities are endless
People are naturally resistant to change but given the practical, financial and cultural benefits of democratising data within the enterprise, zero-click intelligence could be the easiest way to open conversations about – and access to – data analytics across the business.