How Becoming an Agile Data-Driven Business is Much Easier Than You Think 

At Minerva, we’re always discussing and getting excited about data-driven analytics and concepts such as data reporting, predictive analytics and more. 

For us, these ideas are second nature – and we love them. 

However, we understand that, for many businesses, they are not.  

In fact, in most cases, when our clients begin to contemplate implementing data-driven solutions into their business, they actually feel intimidated by the idea. 

They believe it’s going to be a long, drawn-out process that will cause a lot of disruption to their business. In these instances, they may end up deciding that the benefits simply don’t justify the work involved.  

This is a common misconception, yet one that we love proving wrong time and time again.  

That’s why we’ve decided to break down the process to show you that planning and executing analytics projects is easier than you think. 

All it takes is a clear understanding and the utilisation of the right framework to help you achieve the results that you’re after. 

Let’s get into it. 

Firstly: introducing the Minerva Flywheel 

You may or may not have seen our flywheel before. 

This flywheel and the 6 steps within it form the framework that we use for every digital transformation project that we undertake here at Minerva. 

The steps are as follows: 

1. 1. Data, Analytics and Performance Management Strategy 

This involves building your digital roadmap to maximise your business value through data assets and tech investments. 

2. 2. Outcomes 

This is where we identify the results that you are trying to achieve and work to align these with your digital roadmap. 

3. 3. Use Cases 

In this step, we identify and prioritise your projects, in line with guiding principles, to create value for your customers and business users. 

4. 4. Culture 

This step is all about embracing a digital culture through empowerment, training and education. 

5. 5. Technology 

This is where we consider the technology that we will use to design and deploy a high-performing modern digital ecosystem for your business. 

6. 6. Data 

Leveraging both internal and external sources of business data, we can provide deeper analysis and insights for you and your team. 

Throughout each of these steps, we will ask you several questions, but the reality is that nothing about this process is complicated. 

In fact, we can gather everything we need, including the key talking points and outcomes for every one of these steps, in just a single day – giving you everything you need to know to get started almost immediately. 

What do you need to do as part of this process? 

To be quite honest… not much at all! 

All you need to do is show up with the right people (we will get to this in a minute) ready to provide us with the answers we need to help you. 

This process is all about gaining an understanding of where you are at with your strategy and what you want to achieve as a business. From there, we can determine the use cases that you need to prioritise, and the tech, culture and data that you need to embrace. 

Once this is done, we will build a plan that enables you to achieve your business goals and assign roles between our team and yours to execute on your goals and ensure success for your business. 

Sounds pretty simple, right? 

That’s because it is! 

What do we mean when we say, “show up with the right people”? 

In every business, there are certain people that we consider key stakeholders in your organisation. 

These people typically come from three different areas: 

1. 1. Your IT department 

2. 2. Your Finance department 

3. 3. Your Business Unit owners (Department managers) 

Working with you, we can help you identify the people we need to get in a room together to ensure that we get the right answers to the questions we have. 

For example:  

• • when it comes to questions about your data and where it’s hosted, your IT team is going to be whom we need to hear from. 

• • When it comes to discussing your business funds, that responsibility naturally lies with your Finance department. 

• • When we need to look at strengthening certain departments, we consider who your department heads are and speak directly with them. 

Basically, once we have the right people in the room that can give us access to the right information and provide the answers we need, we can take care of the rest. 

So, what happens once all our questions have been answered? 

Once our initial meeting has taken place and all questions have been answered, we will then prioritise the business goals. We will determine what we want to achieve first and what is going to deliver the most value to your business. 

From there, we build our plan. 

By looking at what needs to happen, who needs to be involved and how long it is going to take, we can give you everything you need to get started. 

How long does it take to put everything into action? 

At Minerva, we follow an agile implementation process to help you achieve your business outcomes faster than you might think.  

In fact, depending on your unique situation, we could have you up and running in a matter of weeks.  

Yes, believe it or not, this is not the huge overhaul and business disruption that you’ve come to expect. 

Unfortunately, many businesses put off building agility into their business because they believe that this process is going to take 12 months plus. But, with the right framework, it can actually happen much sooner. 

In just a matter of weeks, you can rapidly increase the data maturity in your business with minimal disruption, helping you make better decisions and automate your processes. Then, over time, these benefits will continue to compound and provide more value to your business. 

Minerva can make your business dynamic and agile – faster 

At Minerva, we provide you with the solutions you need to be an agile data-driven business and shift your decision-making from reactive to proactive. 

With Minerva’s business and technology expertise, you’ll get access to tools and solutions needed to effectively execute scenario planning and stay prepared for whatever the future may bring. 

We work together with your organisation to understand your goals and requirements, before providing you with the right systems and procedures that you need to get the most out of your data and make better business decisions—helping you to become truly better at what you do. 

If you want to learn more about how Minerva can help your business, contact us on 1800 646 378 or email info@minerva.com.au. 

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