Analytics: Key to finding your missing link

From enabling Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to help more sick children, to assisting colleges to identify and support students who may be struggling and therefore reduce attrition, Einstein Analytics has allowed these organisations to use utilise their data to improve and enhance their decision-making processes.

At TechSmart 2019, Sisu Berhane, Senior Partner Success Manager – EMEA at salesforce.org described for delegates the pathway to becoming data driven, whereby you can use your data to describe what is happening, why it is happening, calculating what will happen next, and finally deciding what should happen in the future.

“The baseline is actually having data and that’s ground zero. Where you start to become data driven is when you can describe what has happened using your data, then gain an insight and find answers, which subsequently takes you to the predictive and prescriptive stages – not many systems can do this and this is where AI comes in,” says Sisu.

The important thing to do first though, she told delegates, is to find out exactly where you are – and what you need to improve. “It is the equivalent of putting your own mask on first during an aircraft emergency before you can save anyone else.”

Key questions

  • Who does what and how much does that cost?
  • What should we start to do – what should we stop doing or keep doing?
  • What needs to be improved?
  • How can we optimise the working experience for our staff?
  • Do we have a profit and loss for everything we do at the unit level?

“There are three types of analytics: Traditional business analytics that are static and number crunching; visualisation, where data is optimised but only for a few people and information is still generated by data specialists but not directly accessible by the user; and an intelligent experience for every business process, aimed at end users performing day-to-day functions. It is user centric – not restricted to the tech team and tied into all the business processes,” says Sisu.

“If you don’t have intelligence linked to business process it’s of no use and the data you have is useless. Creating an intelligent experience requires a combination of business apps, analytics and AI, all of which have to be connected. AI must be embedded for optimal decision-making and the system must be simple for people to use, with a natural language interface.”

Benefits of Einstein Analytics

  • Native to CRM
  • Connected
  • Complete
  • Intelligent
  • Enterprise ready

“Becoming a data driven non-profit is not a linear journey; it will need constant refining and if actions are feeding foresight it should never end.”

“With Salesforce, we can raise more money at a lower cost, which means we can give more help to the children, families, and staff of Great Ormond Street Hospital.” Tim Johnson, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity