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Analytics Key to Smart Business

By Tito Summa Siahaan on 02:14 pm Nov 23, 2013


Category Analysis, Business
Tags: Analytics

With the digital world becoming an integral part of daily activities, data analytics are also
becoming a critical tool for Indonesian businesses in order to tap into new opportunities and
address challenges.
In Globe Asias power breakfast series featuring analytics experts from Accenture, a leading
management consulting firm, over 100 business executives and leaders listened and gained
insightful knowledge on why analytics should be the way of the future in their business plans.
In the words of Julianto Sidarto, Accenture Indonesias managing director, the digital
explosion has ushered in the era of analytics, based on the sudden availability of huge amounts
of data.
In todays world, there are enough smart phones, tablets and laptop computers for every single
person on the planet, and more than 600,000 gigabytes of data exchange hands every minute
through those devices. Using analytics, that data can be collected, dissected and analyzed to find
patterns that can be used in making business decisions.
The most common application of data analytics is to customize and personalize consumers
experience through digital platforms.
Craig Silverman, Accentures managing director for analytics, said analytics are being used to
make marketing campaigns more targeted and more precise.
But, Silverman went on, selling more goods and services to consumers is only one way to look at
the benefits of analytics. He added Accenture has a client in the manufacturing industry which
uses analytics to establish so-called predictive maintenance. They saw factory down time
reduced by 10 percent to 20 percent, he added.
Intuition over facts
The problem in Indonesia is that many executives have not been exposed to scientific-based
approaches in decision making, according to Nils Michaelis, Accenture Aseans managing
director for analytics.
In a recent survey by Accenture of Asean executives, which included 90 people from Indonesia,
respondents were asked to rate, on a scale 1 to 5, key components that drive their decisions.

In the survey, Indonesian respondents rated personal experience and intuition the highest, scoring
3.92 and 3.83, respectively, while scientific-based approaches like using complex data analysis
and simple data and facts at the bottom with 3.56 and 3.08, according to Michaelis.
Joulmer J., the vice president for strategic and scientific marketing at Telkomsel, a subsidiary of
state-controlled Telekomunikasi Indonesia, said business acumen and experience are important
components in business decisions.
However, it is important to take into consideration scientific-based approaches like analytics that
can be used to identify market trends, according to Joulmer.
It is important not to be arrogant, said Joulmer, citing the example of Nokia and Blackberrys
downfall, which stemmed from failing to adapt to market trends.
Telco firms know everything
Data analytics is widely used by telecommunication companies. The method helps them entice
subscribers with products and services with higher hit rates.
Telkomsels Joulmer said telecommunication firms have gathered a huge amount of data, and
using this information to improve performance in a highly-competitive industry through
analytics is important.
A traditional marketing approach is no longer sufficient for us.
Telecommunication firms have developed advanced analytics capabilities in order to enable
them to predict consumer behavior and give consumers the right offers, noted Joulmer.
Telecommunication firms know every bit information about their consumers.
Through predictive analytics, Joulmer claimed, Telkomsel can sell its products and services to
1.5 million to 2 million subscribers a month.
That starts by asking the right questions in order to find the right information, according to
Joulmer. Most of the times, when analytics fails it is because there are no clear business
objectives.
Try to identify your challenges and problems.
Wanted: data scientists
The biggest challenge in the widespread use of data analytics is the lack of talented people,
commonly known as data scientists, who understand the method.
Accentures Silverman said that as the application of analytics is spreading, the talent shortage
has become more visible. There are no silver bullets on the issue, he added.

Still, Silverman suggested that centralizing the analytics capability in a single unit. Instead of
having three data scientists in marketing and another three in finance, it is better to have all the
scientists in a single unit that handles all the different functions.
Telkomsels Joulmer said building internal analytics capabilities would take time to yield
sufficient results. While were doing that, it is important to import analytics capabilities to
address short-term challenges.

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