History repeats

The world of IT is known for being innovative and a trendsetter. Ever since the first introduction of a computer, it has evolved faster than any other industry did before. The industry is still relatively young compared to others but new developments are following each other rapidly. The latest technology, new gadgets and trends are led by IT technologists and they tend to set the tone for all other industries to follow in their footsteps.

 

IT is in the driver seat when it comes to technological developments. Such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and blockchain, which are already adopted in IT departments, while the rest of the company is still figuring out what it is exactly. Data-driven is one step ahead and the early adopters have paved the way for business managers and executives to understand its added value. Good thing is that many non-IT departments understand the concept of data. Data Driven Decision Making is on top of mind for divisions such as sales, marketing and top-management. The word is out and everyone is talking about it, yet we are still in the early days of the Data Driven Decision Making phenomena.

 

As business technology has advanced exponentially in recent years, data-driven decision making has become a much more fundamental part of all sorts of industries and company divisions. It sounds very obvious, but why has the world not embraced this idea much earlier?

Back in the days…

Let’s go back to half way the 19th century during the cholera outbreak causing thousands of deaths. An epidemiologist in London – Dr. John Snow – had an idea how cholera was being spread and, most importantly, how to stop it. To substantiate the idea, he marked each death on a city map. This made clear that all victims were from the same area and when asking around it became clear that they all used to drink water from the same pump. He took his findings to the city leaders and they understood the problem – the pump was situated in an area with no sewage system. Today, instead of using pen and paper, we use computers and dashboards to tell our stories and show the retrieved data.

Same trick, new technology.

It’s not new but on repeat

In this era of digital transformation, there is more data available than ever before. More data will give you more insights which will support the decision making process. And when you need to make a decision, you want to make the best one possible especially when it comes to your business. When money is involved, when the future of your business depends on it. Even the smallest decision can have great impact – so it better be the best decision you make. You want information you can rely on – which tells you the truth and guides you in the right direction.

 

September 2018