{"id":242512,"date":"2019-06-11T05:32:27","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T12:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=242512"},"modified":"2023-12-04T11:45:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T19:45:51","slug":"democratizing-data-in-the-organization","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/democratizing-data-in-the-organization","title":{"rendered":"Business Trends: Democratizing Data in the Organization"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1001,381312,791],"tags":[165542,281,1161],"department":[476792,476822],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-242512","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercial","category-cxo-priorities","category-digital-transformation","tag-data-sharing","tag-location-intelligence","tag-retail","department-cxo-priorities","department-data-and-ai"],"acf":{"short_description":"The traditional button-down approach to enterprise data is giving way to a more democratic mindset, with impressive results.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"As digital transformation spawns larger and more varied datasets, companies willing to expose actionable insights across the enterprise are realizing better customer experiences and making smarter decisions.\r\n\r\nThese pioneering companies democratize data to more of their employees with the help of analytics applications that require little training. Tools such as a geographic information system (GIS)<\/a>, once the exclusive province of data scientists, are now being extended to employees enterprise-wide. And since nearly all forms of business data are tied to location\u2014where are field crews working, where are competitors gaining market share, where to place new utility infrastructure\u2014leading companies are investing in employee-friendly GIS platforms that make business operations more data-driven."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Article snapshot:<\/strong> Eager to make better, faster business decisions\u2014but saddled with outdated data-sharing practices\u2014some organizations are finding competitive advantage in exposing data to more employees.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"With democratized data and location intelligence powered by GIS and other tools, employees at all levels are empowered to make better decisions faster.\r\n\r\nData Powers Intelligent Interactions\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor employees, the days of waiting on a small group of data scientists to provide location intelligence are waning. The market for low-code development platforms that deliver data analysis to non-coders is already valued in the billions, and is growing 50 percent each year<\/a>, according to Forrester.\r\n\r\nMatt Zenus, global vice president for data management at SAP, noted in a recent podcast<\/a> that companies are embracing data democratization as part of a larger cultural shift toward data-driven business strategy:"},{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","content":"We're at a convergence point where there isn't a lack of data anymore, but the demands on data are huge. What's exciting for me is to see the innovative organizations that know how to take advantage of all this data to actually create insights. When those organizations make decisions on those insights and actually make them part of their businesses processes, they're going to win."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Recent successes of several growth-focused companies reveal how data democratization pays dividends throughout the business world.\r\n\r\nServing up Information to Employees <\/strong>\r\n\r\nFour years ago, one prominent US restaurant chain\u2019s data was locked up in silos. In one silo, a team of nine data experts created GIS-based maps to identify potential new store locations\u2014a common application of the technology.\r\n\r\nAt the time, the company had just become one of the 10 largest restaurants in the US. Today, it\u2019s among the top five chains, and still growing."},{"acf_fc_layout":"form","form_type":"aside","form_position":"Left","form_title":"THE ESRI BRIEF","form_desc":"A biweekly email connecting senior executives and business leaders with thought-provoking articles on location intelligence and critical technology trends.","form_button_label":"Sign up now","form_content":"https:\/\/go.pardot.com\/l\/82202\/2017-10-12\/jw1bmb","form_tag":"low-commitment-form\/sign-up-form"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Executives supported that growth in part by breaking down data silos and disseminating information throughout the organization, helping employees make better, faster decisions. The process relied heavily on lightweight, often mobile apps that most employees find intuitive and quick to navigate. From its original corps of nine users, GIS technology now reaches hundreds of company professionals across 40 departments, many of whom use its location intelligence<\/a> on a daily basis.\r\n\r\nThe system is fed in part by a group of field professionals who analyze the competitive market around each restaurant. Through mobile GIS apps, they make detailed assessments of competitor activities noting where and when new stores are being built, along with the dynamics of the retail environment each competitor occupies.\r\n\r\nThat data is delivered in real time to strategic planners in the office. They combine the information with sophisticated demographic analyses to support multimillion-dollar investment decisions about where to open new stores and how to counter competitor moves.\r\n\r\n\u201cNow, without people knowing they\u2019re actually leveraging GIS, we\u2019ve effectively turned many people across the organization into a GIS analyst,\u201d says a manager who helped shepherd the project.\r\n\r\nSuch collaborative use of precision data and human insight has vaulted the company to one of the highest rates of per-store sales in the industry.\r\n\r\nUpending Conventional Wisdom on Data<\/strong>\r\n\r\nAt one of the world\u2019s largest oil and gas companies, data sequestration had become a way of life. The organization took a \u201cbetter safe than sorry\u201d approach to data governance\u2014only a privileged few could access most information, and it rarely crossed departmental boundaries."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"

Pushing Data to the Edge with AI<\/h2>\r\nCompanies are finding creative ways to use data to empower employees who interact directly with customers. As Esri\u2019s Jay Theodore<\/a> noted recently, that effort sometimes involves a combination of artificial intelligence and GIS technology. Theodore writes:\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen companies create AI-based, location-aware tools that help employees respond more precisely to customers\u2019 needs and relieve middle managers from repeated intervention in the sales or service process, those companies can boost revenue and reduce the cost of sales and service.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo learn more, read the full article<\/a>.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"But under innovative leadership, even a company with more than $100 billion in revenue and a prime spot in the Fortune 50 can change course. Over several years, executives undertook a digital transformation<\/a> that reached every corner of the business, including the geographic information system that helps the company manage nearly all its operations. Its drillers use the system to understand where oil lurks underground. Maintenance crews map efficient routes through vast, uncharted oil fields. And decision-makers consult the system looking for fertile ground for new investments.\r\n\r\nBefore initiating the GIS overhaul, however, leaders paused to consider the status quo. What they found, according to one VP close to the project, was a brand of conventional wisdom that was far from reality.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe reality is that 95 percent of the geospatial data we use can be shared across the entire organization,\u201d he explains. \u201cOnly a few key datasets need to be locked down.\u201d\r\n\r\nOnce this was clear, the corporate mindset changed drastically, and leaders made data open by default, keeping just five percent of it locked down. That move created a virtuous cycle of information exchange and innovation.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019ve seen many instances where a dataset that was considered basic information for one team turns out to be very valuable to another team,\u201d he notes. Upstream teams began to collaborate with downstream teams, and the data-sharing trend spread through the organization. That, the VP says, \u201cled to new efficiencies, insights, and business opportunities.\u201d\r\n\r\nAn Ambitious Growth Plan Demands Better Data <\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhen executives at X5 Retail Group, the second largest retailer in Russia, set the lofty goal of opening 2,500 new stores in one year<\/a>, they knew they had very little room for error. The company was already growing at a fast clip, but the new goal was five times its previous high mark. To reach it, decision-makers needed reliable data, quick analyses, and an impeccable sense of market potential to ensure profitability.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe want regional director[s] to focus the attention of the whole operating team on a high-quality opening of each new store,\u201d explains Igor Pletnev, the company\u2019s strategic business development director. \u201cTo us, it\u2019s not the quantity, but the quality that matters.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo succeed on both counts, X5 needed to expand the number of professionals involved in site selection and outfit them with location intelligence to make fast, profitable decisions. Soon, GIS apps were a constant companion for almost 800 employees in the organization. They used its data to analyze market characteristics such as per capita income and population density; to decide the best assortment of products for each store; even to predict how much revenue each location would generate.\r\n\r\nBy empowering employees to input and access data from a central source, GIS delivered the insight decision-makers needed to move quickly and efficiently. This radically democratized approach helped the retail giant open more than 5,000 grocery and convenience stores in just two years, sending the company\u2019s market cap past $6 billion.\r\n\r\n\u201cThose newly opened stores were good openings, high-quality openings,\u201d Pletnev says. \u201cThe percentage of mistaken decisions is very low.\u201d\r\n\r\nToward a More Intelligent Enterprise <\/strong>\r\n\r\nLike most successful enterprise strategies, data democratization thrives on the combined power of people and technology.\r\n\r\nOrganizations that embrace digital transformation, and have the gumption to disrupt traditional mores on data access, can separate themselves from the competition. When data is entrusted to employees across the enterprise, business intelligence increases at all levels\u2014from the boardroom, to operational planners, to the edge where the organization connects with the customer."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nSharing Data with Employees in the Enterprise \u2502 Democratizing Data<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Data siloes have fragmented the modern enterprise, stifled innovation, and left employees craving more insight. 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