ANOTHERIMPORTANTSKILLNEEDEDISADEEPUNDERSTANDING OFTHE PROCESSESOFYOURCUSTOMER
WHETHERYOU GO IN DEPTHORGO WIDE, MODERN RESEARCHIS ALLABOUTEMBEDDING. IN PROCESSAND TECHNOLOGY. DATA SKILLSTHATGO BEYONDPRESSING A BUTTON IN SPSSARE NEEDED, TERMSLIKE ETL, HADOOP, HIVE, STREAMING EVENTS, ETC. SHOULDBE KNOW N BYYOU
Marketresearchindepth
This is the researcher that acceptsthatwhattheydeliver are“ additional” data points. However, in order to deliver value with this, these data points have to be extremely valuable. Soinordertodeliver thisvaluetheresearcherhasto buildupanextremeknowledge and translate this to specific models, methodologies and technologies. Think ofspecific services like customer feedbackloopsorcontinuously competitor monitoring and analysis. Also complex qual researchcanbeseenasthein depth choice. Most ofthe in depth servicesare continuous anddirectlyconnectedtodata sourcesofthe customer. The outcomeoftheseprojectsand systems are mixed by the customerintheirdatasoupand they, independently from the researcher, come create their Insights.
Gowide Thischoicewilhaveasgoalto betheprovideroftotalinsight across entire organisations, products, ormarketsanddata. This means that besides research knowledge, specific industry knowledge isneeded. Researchersthatliketogothis way wil have to embed themselvesinthedatastreams of their customers, integrate additionaldata points, setup models, dashboards and analysis in order to provide their services. This service comesclose to the traditional management consultancy servicesdelivered, butfarmore dataoriented.
New skilsneeded
So overthepasttwo decades the required skil set has changed. W hileinthepastthe focuswasontheeficiencyofa research process, it now has movedtobeingabletouseand embed data generated bythe research customer and third parties. W hetheryouliketogo in depth orwide, you wilbe confronted with a research processthatusesdatacoming from diferent sources( frequently even in realtime). This makes, literaly, every projectdiferentandatechnical data chalenge on its own. Utilizing technologies to connectto data sources that deliver data in batches or( transaction) message based, validate and processincoming data, enrich data across sources, andgeneratereal-time insightsarecommonneeds. As an example thinkoffeeding a real-timeresearchmodelbased uponwebsitetransactions. This canonlybepartofyourservice if you master data and technology.
Anotherimportantskilneeded isadeepunderstandingofthe processes of your customer. Sincethefocusoforganisations is on tuning, the market researcherneedstobeableto provide embedded servicesin thecustomerprocesses.
Theresearcherdoesnotdeliver the inputofa process, butis part of the process. So, any researcherneedstounderstand projectmanagementprinciples used bythecustomerinorder toaddvalue.
And exactly these have been heavilyinnovatedoverthepast 2decades. Methodslikescrum, agileandleanhavebecomethe waymarketerswork.
Conclusion Wh
hetheryougoindepthorgo wide, modern research is al about embedding. In process andtechnology. Dataskilsthat gobeyondpressingabutonin SPSS are needed, terms like ETL, Hadoop, Hive, R, streaming, events, etcshouldbeknownby you. It is al about your understanding of, and embeddingyourserviceinyour customer’ sbusinessprocess.
The good thing of these changes is that people now expectInsightstobereal-time and continuously, so projects that run for years are no exception. And thatjustifiesa higher investment in technology needed in these projects.