Data Analytics - Get Ahead of the Next Information Frontier
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

What risks and opportunities are coming over the horizon? Jinfo's director of research, Robin Neidorf, explains.

Item

Whether it's called big data, data mining, data analytics or something else entirely, this is the next hot area for information services to focus on.

This subject cropped up repeatedly throughout our Research Focus "Strategic Alignment of IS and IT". And little wonder: it's an area that both information services and information technology clearly have a hand in, yet neither part of the business can adequately address its risks and opportunities alone.

Data analytics is the frontier of competitive advantage, business agility, and new insights. But we have yet to discover the "right" model for ensuring that the big risks of this arena are understood and addressed:

1. Right data, right source, right price
2. Licensing and reuse rights
3. Definition of value of projects, outputs and even customer-facing products.

Looking for best practices? Keep looking. The information teams that are already investigating how this new frontier will affect their position, required skills and expertise in the business have more questions, rather than fewer.

What we DO know, however, is that the joint expertise of information services and IT is essential for managing risks and creating opportunities in this area.

Our industry is all about the value of information to business. Over the next two to five years, data analytics are where that value will increasingly be realised. Ignore it too long, and risk being rendered irrelevant.

What You Need To Do

• Get informed, stay informed

• Proactively participate in discussions, working groups and conferences around data analytics

• Create an inventory of current data stores, how they're being used and how they might be used

• Interview relevant parts of the business about current or emerging thinking around data analytics

• Meet regularly with counterparts in IT to share insight and support each other's learning.

Jinfo is taking up data analytics as a Research Focus later in 2016, but it's never too early to start to build up your knowledge. These items from the Research Focus "Strategic Alignment of IS and IT" will help:

• Who's Leading the Digital Workplace? Further Views From Thought Leaders
• Making Sure the Right Experts are Involved in Decision-Making

• How Mature is Your Relationship with the IT Department?
• Model - How Mature is Your IS/IT Relationship?

The main lessons learned from this three-month Research Focus, plus a thematic index to all content published, are listed in the report Insights and Actions from the Research Focus "Strategic Alignment of IS and IT", visit the Research Focus page to get your copy.

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