The Decision Maker

Data is rising at an incredible pace, covering all aspects of a consumer’s life. In the past two years, more data has been created than in the entire previous history of the human race. (1)

2017 has certainly been the year that data and analytics has redefined the financial services industry. For those financial institutions leading the way in data analytics initiatives, a survey reported that 48% of organizations are achieving measurable results from their data analytics investments – the first time the survey has found a near majority since it began in 2012. (2)

As we look back on data analytics maturity in 2017, here are a few highlights of use cases shared by financial institutions that are experiencing real value—and a substantial return on investment from their analytics initiatives.

Let’s face it: we live in a world where a strong data and analytics competency is becoming a “must have” for successful companies. Despite the growing significance of analytics, the majority of banks and credit unions are not “data-driven” organizations.

We’ve uncovered a number of common reasons why investment in data and analytics has been pushed off or outright rejected. Despite these challenges, most of the common reasons against data and analytics are driven by inaccuracies or misinformation.

In this post, we will address the common pushbacks against data and analytics projects and how to overcome those challenges.

For starters, yes the title is a terrible play on “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

Bad jokes aside, I hear too frequently how organizations need more and more data. I’m a data guy – I’m all about data. But there is a subtle difference between having more data and more information.

Below is one of my favorite quotes about data: