Your data now resides in the cloud, and you’ve chosen SaaS providers that use their own products (or drink their own champagne, as I like to say). Does that mean you’re getting the full value from your data? No. Chances are high your data is still siloed. This time, the culprits are your SaaS providers who collect and store your data, thus limiting the analytics you can perform on it.
Today, technology drives organizations. We rely on it, which is why a misstep in selecting technology partners and their SaaS solutions can impact an organization in regrettable ways. It can impede your ability to scale in a graceful manner. It can slow down your journey of automation. It can even introduce risk related to compliance or security, depending on the solution. Whenever you decide to buy, a proper assessment of any SaaS provider is crucial.
Those who use data wisely have competitive advantages and more profits. As a result, companies are increasing their focus on improving their data literacy. For example, the importance of data has led companies like AppNexus1 and Chevron2 to conduct internal data science competitions to identify and hone analytical talent. But, as noted in the kickoff blog post to our series on data-driven organizations, merely having data does not ensure you have a useful interpretation of that data.
