- Senior Analytics Consultant
I am a firm believer that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, and there is huge benefit to be realised in tackling sometimes complex …
VIEW PROFILE

Is it too easy to think of analytical maturity as a step ladder? How can you reliably position yourself on that ladder? Are you too critical or too kind? Have you taken all the key aspects (perhaps even the unknown unknowns in the analytical world) into account?
Take the Analytical Maturity model presented in Thomas Davenport’s “Competing on Analytics”. Would you consider your organisation as having Analytical Aspirations or as a true Analytical Company?
It is interesting to benchmark, and here at Presidion we have used this framework in the past, but we have found that there are often too many differing perspectives and complexities within organisations that we work with for it to be so straight forward.
In our experience, organisations differ in more ways than can be illustrated here. For example, there are those who make decisions based on experience (no, not gut feel, but years upon years of accumulated experience) and there are those who inherently and unwaveringly place their trust in analytical recommendations. For these, analytics is a day-to-day decision support system and in some cases a decision-making system. There are also organisations who have no necessity to ‘convince’ key stakeholders to use analytics in decisions, and then there are those who face staunch resistance, often a reflection of culture or organisational readiness. Some organisations that we’ve worked with consider data governance a nuisance, unnecessary red tape slowing down the decision-making process. Others would baulk at this, highlighting the essential role data governance plays in the trust and provision of insights.
Analytical Maturity Assessment
There are many lenses by which you can view analytical maturity, and it’s true that some organisations are mature in many of these but severely lacking in others.
As part of Presidion’s End-to-End Analytical Framework, We assess 7 key pivots or elements that not only help to characterise an organisation and assess an overall analytical maturity but also help to highlight the key areas for attention and what elements are necessary to improve.
The elements are displayed here on a radar chart.
Let’s take a closer look at what each represents:
Clarity of Vision | The level of senior management sponsorship for analytics and the clarity of the vision for developing an analytics capability. |
Data Driven Decision Making | The ability of the organisation to gather data to effectively inform and drive decisions at all levels |
Ability to Deploy Analytical Insights |
Whether analytics insights are effectively deployed with the requirement for change management and performance management |
Capability and Skills | The availability of key analytics skills as well as business domain expertise |
IT Relationships | The degree to which IT and Line of Business work in a cooperative fashion to deliver tangible business outcomes |
Analytical Roadmap | The degree to which a roadmap for the development of an analytics capability is available |
Data Governance | How effective the organisation is at accessing, sharing and controlling data across the organisation |
These elements often present themselves as interconnected links or axes within organisations. Consider the following two axes of analytical maturity.
The first axis, the Infrastructure Axis, relates the IT relationships, data governance and the use of data in making decisions. The more analytically mature organisations scale their infrastructure to support automation and real-time application of analytical models. Where one of these characteristics is lacking, there are clear constraints when attempting to scale.
The second axis is more top-down driven, the Organisational Momentum Axis. Here, the more C-Level clarity on the vision for analytics, together with a well-defined roadmap to get there and the inherent organisational support for deployment of analytical insights, then the more seamlessly actions get taken and business benefit can be realised.
In practice, analytical maturity is reflected in the interaction of these elements. Some organisations may have a strong Infrastructure Axis, but organisational culture or lack of management support see their momentum with analytics stunted. That’s also not to discount the importance of the capability and skills available to you as an organisation that will clearly determine the level of complexity in analytical techniques that is attainable.
Given Presidion’s Analytical Maturity Assessment shown here, how would your organisation score? Which areas do you think are working well and which are stunting your growth in creating an analytics capability?
More Analytics Blog Posts
Read more >>
Read more >>
- SPSS Statistics Version 26 includes new statistical tests, enhancements to existing statistics and scripting procedures…Read more >>
- Top tips and tricks for running ANOVA and non-parametric tests along with more advanced forms…Read more >>
- SPSS Statistics Version 26 includes new statistical tests, enhancements to existing statistics and scripting procedures…Read more >>
- Healthcare systems face multiple challenges, including ageing populations, evolving healthcare needs and rising costs. Tailored…Read more >>
- Forecasting predicts future values of a particular quantity based on previously observed values of that…Read more >>
- Alan shows you how identify new, data driven, re-order points for your stock items that…Read more >>
- In this short video you will learn how to run a Time Series model within…Read more >>
- Alan now looks more closely at the quality of information you hold on your inventory.…Read more >>
- Alan takes you through the Smart Inventory Management interactive dashboard, showcasing an overview of your…Read more >>
- In this third video, Alan shows you how to extract the key findings from a…Read more >>
- Join us at the Technology Event of the Year! Watch Rob McCullagh present Presidion’s innovative…Read more >>
- This second video concentrates on using Hold-out samples to create more robust predictive models. In…Read more >>
- SPSS is a fully customisable analytical software. Due to the highly flexible nature of SPSS…Read more >>
- In this video, the first of a series, Alan takes you through running a Decision…Read more >>
- If you have ever found that your company has engaged with Analytics initiatives that have…Read more >>
- In the 4th video of our series you will learn how to build stacked tables,…Read more >>
- In this video you will learn how to tailor your tables, run T-test & create…Read more >>
- In June 2018, I was invited to speak at the UK Manufacturing and Supply Chain…Read more >>
- In this video you will learn how to protect respondent's identity and boost the statistical…Read more >>
- Best practices and key considerations before, during and after deploying an analytical initiative to maximise…Read more >>
- In the first video of the IBM SPSS Custom Tables series you will learn: How…Read more >>
- I’ve often seen analytics described primarily by way of the technical complexity of the techniques.…Read more >>
- Being able to effectively measure a RoI on the back of an Advanced Analytics project…Read more >>
- Throughout industries analytics has taken on an almost ubiquitous nature of late. There are increasing…Read more >>
- Analytics is being discussed more and more often in top table conversations, but why do…Read more >>
- Watch Pierre Baviera speaking at “Demystifying Data” Business Breakfast at the Imperial Hotel (Cork), in…Read more >>
- A 3 step process to Understand, Assess and Audit your Data for Advanced Analytics.Read more >>
- Presidion’s Framework Approach for a Technology Review involves a 3 step process, leading to the…Read more >>
- With inspirational quotes from Data and Analytics gurus worldwide.Read more >>
- Take the Analytical Maturity model presented in Thomas Davenport’s “Competing on Analytics”. Would you consider…Read more >>
- There are times when deploying advanced analytics initiatives can feel like you are in a…Read more >>
- After our last A4B “War Stories - Data Analyst Down”, we asked the keynote speaker,…Read more >>
- The truth is that there are many factors and forces at work that help build…Read more >>
- While I’m not sure this statement is true when referring to people, I really believe…Read more >>
- As I observe and read about the raging fires causing massive destruction, I have been…Read more >>
- After our last A4B we asked the keynote speaker, Anthony O’Neill (Director, Analytics Centre of…Read more >>
- The science and psychology to get the 'Bikini Body' you have always wanted (with Predictive…Read more >>
- The reasons behind, and some hints to help you during difficult conversations and challenging situations!Read more >>
- When you start with Analytics you might feel overwhelmed, you have all that incredible power…Read more >>
- Preventative and Conditional Maintenance are often mistaken with Predictive Maintenance. This animation gives you an…Read more >>
- Reports from the insurance industry consistently highlight that the quality of customer experience remains the…Read more >>
- Unlike the consumer sector, manufacturers have been using IoT for years. Properly focused IoT capabilities…Read more >>
- The World is going through the Digital Revolution. What does it practically mean? Well, it…Read more >>
- Does your organisation struggle with understanding how to use analytics? These days it is not…Read more >>
- As a CEO, it’s important that you not just have some good one liners to…Read more >>
- Predictive Maintenance, the modern approach to maintenance that maximises productivity while reducing overall costs.Read more >>
- It is a truism that business need to win new customers and retain existing customers.…Read more >>
- Oil and Gas companies are borrowing from data rich industries to transform their maintenance procedures.…Read more >>
- Will the reign of terror ever end? Can we fight ISIS? Here are the tangible…Read more >>
- Answers to key questions and tips for creating a clear strategy to deliver Big Insights…Read more >>
- More often than not predictive analytics projects represent unfulfilled potential. Is your next project doomed…Read more >>
- Using asset specific data to predict where, when and why a specific asset will fail…Read more >>
- Can one of the most common applications in Retail sector (Market Basket Analysis), determine Next…Read more >>
- With the explosion of Big Data in the past few years there has been a…Read more >>
- One of the most important elements of any data analytics project within any business is…Read more >>
- How many times do you have to be told something before you believe it? Do…Read more >>
- Do you think you are a “good” Analyst? Are there certain traits, attributes and qualities…Read more >>
- Good predictive models take the time and experience of skilled analysts to develop. How do…Read more >>
- We hear that “Data is the new Oil” but how do you extract real value…Read more >>
- Fraud in organizations can be epidemic if not curbed at the inception. According to a…Read more >>
- Were you ever faced with identifying insights from open ended text data? From call center…Read more >>
- The Irish playwright was on the money - no matter what way you look at…Read more >>
- There are two certainties in life, death and taxes. This proverb rings true especially for…Read more >>