Across the Middle East and Africa ( MEA ), companies that increasingly rely on data analytics can make better decisions and often see a positive change in culture too . A data culture interacts with changes in corporate culture and processes . This means a profound change in mentality and in practice , makes data-driven decision-making the standard and ideal at all levels of a company . Such a transformation does not happen overnight , but in the long term , it benefits the entire company , especially during periods of change .

The transformation to a data-driven enterprise often starts in different places for different businesses from the management board to individual departments . Data analysts might see the growing need to expand self-service analytics within the company , for example . Companies should see this as an opportunity . By empowering employees with data , they can act more independently , assume more responsibility , hierarchies become flatter and decisions are made more democratically . In the long term , the entire company benefits from this , because traditional company processes are put to the test and often innovated .

The user interfaces of most self-service platforms for data analytics are intuitive to understand . Nevertheless , training is an important component of a data culture . This also benefits employees who have had little to do with data in the past . Training helps to reduce fear of contact – even among employees who are generally reserved about digitisation . Together with colleagues , they can share best practices or organise competitions in which they playfully implement the visual preparation of data sets . Here too , the benefits for the company go far beyond the training topic of data analytics . The company is becoming more digital , and employees dare to tackle new topics and tasks .

A data culture often helps bring together colleagues with others in the business that they did not even know before . For example , financial services provider Charles Schwab has an internal Analytics user group where more than 130 employees

Across the Middle East and Africa , companies that increasingly rely on data analytics can make better decisions and often see a positive change in culture too .

exchange dashboard tips or internal processes every month . The insurance and asset management group Swiss Life has set up a regular newsletter containing analyst tips and dashboard shows in which all employees can view examples from various departments . The software provider Red Hat has introduced extensive motivation and training programmes to accompany the introduction of a self-service solution . The number of platform users grew from an initial 50 to more than 4,500 in the first year . A living data culture enhances the skills of the workforce and promotes knowledge transfer .

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