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Executive analytics:Nine strategies to deliver digital solutions

Common pain points

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• Unactionable, indigestible data

• Too many dashboards

• Data delivered in a vacuum

Most executives face common pain points in their

business intelligence (BI) and reporting solutions:

Business context

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The nine strategies

Improve the executive decision model

and transform the organization

Executive decision model

Internal analysis External

information

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Strategy

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Select an analytic platform Should address both enterprise and executive requirements

• Dynamic and immediate data

• Visual interfaces with interactivity

• Multidimensional analysis

• Unstructured information discovery

• Personalization to end users

• Action frameworks and alerts

• Device agnostic

Look for these platform capabilities:

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The Platform Lays the foundation for future executive analytic strategies

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Discover, predict and prescribe

Strategy

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What are analytics?

Predictive analytics builds on

descriptive analytics by combining

historical data with various algorithms and

rules about what might happen in the

future.

Prescriptive analytics builds upon

both descriptive and predictive analytics; it

predicts what will happen, when it will

happen, why it will happen — and what the

best course of action is to optimize

outcomes and reduce risks.

Basic analytics

Descriptive

Predictive

Prescriptive

Advanced analyticsDescriptive analytics uses historical

data to understand what happened and

why.

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Understanding the maturity model and need for a

comprehensive framework for flexibility is the key

to unlocking the value of advanced analytics.

Prescriptive analytics is a key differentiator

between industry leaders and followers.

Advanced analytics

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Facilitate the conversion of

measures to KPIs

Strategy

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Key Performance IndicatorsEssential to gauge what "right" looks like.

• when they are on course

• when they need to right the ship

KPIs can present a view to let executives know:

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Link strategies to measures &

reports

Strategy

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Linking strategiesMeasurements

Detailed reports empower leadership

to understand why a strategy is

succeeding or failing.

Identify financial and nonfinancial measures

that serve as the indicators of the health of

the business and gauge its strategy.

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Invoke multidimensional

balanced scorecarding

Strategy

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Balanced scorecardingMultidimensional applications should effectively sort

analytics across several factors

Views by business line, geo

location, product or salespersonare just a few ways to review a strategy

to see if there is true alignment across

all facets of the business.

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Provide online content

management for strategic planning

Strategy

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Online contentMaking the strategic plan

digital, and storing it in an

integrated platform with

performance management,

analytics and BI, would bring

the plan into the daily reporting

process.

This process helps provide

context to the data.

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Prompt user actions, alerts &

online collaboration

Strategy

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Prompt the user

The use of prompts accelerates the

ability to react swiftly to assess

critical changes.

Moreover, the accessibility of data

allows for a clear perspective of the

problem-solving process, helping

get the right answer from the right

people.

Swiftly assess critical changes

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Apply advanced visualization

techniques

Strategy

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Visualization techniques

Advanced visualization

techniques will allow different

subsets of KPIs to be cross-

referenced to related subjects and

provide a true 360-degree picture

of performance, as well as the

interdependence of certain

measures.

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Access via executive digital

devices of choice

Strategy

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Device access

Executives must be able to

access dashboards and key metrics

at a glance or on the move. They

need the ability to make key

decisions in real time.

Key metrics on the move

Additionally, executives in board

settings can access reports

along with the drill to detail when questions arise on the fly.

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• drive key benefits

• decrease time to discovery and

insight

• yield faster decisions and responses

to change

Executive analytics brings the ability to discern relationships

across subject areas and divisions, increasing enterprise

collaboration and executive context.

SummaryExecutive analytics strategies have the capability to:

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Ross, Jeanne W.; Beath, Cynthia M.; and

Quaadgras, Anne. “You May Not Need

Big Data After All,” Harvard Business

Review, December 2013.

“Until a company learns

how to use data and

analysis to support its

operating decisions, it

will not be in a position

to benefit from big data.”

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Want to learn more?

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John StilwellGrant Thornton LLP

T 913.272.2721

E john.stilwell@us.gt.com