Editor’s note: Gartner Peer Insights recognizes the vendors that are the most highly rated by their customers through the Customers’ Choice distinction. Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice distinctions are determined by the subjective opinions of individual end-user customers based on their own experiences, the number of published reviews on Gartner Peer Insights, and overall ratings for a given vendor in the market, as further described here, and are not intended in any way to represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates.
Gartner Peer Insights provides an opportunity for our customers to share their opinion of our Platform, the Analytic Process Automation™ (APA) category, and the overall customer experience — the good, the bad, and, well, sometimes the ugly.
Many of the reviews acknowledge how Alteryx has helped solve for data science and analytics as well as analytics process problems — from managing disparate sources of data to automating repetitive and complex analytic processes — and the ROI that has resulted from these improvements, whether it’s top-line growth or efficiency gains.
“Alteryx allows users from many backgrounds to step into the tool and start building models to answer business questions.”
— Data Analyst in the Services Industry
“Ease of use allows our user base to quickly adopt and gain efficiency, freeing them up to do more analytics and visualizations.”
— Director of Enterprise and Market Analytics in the Retail Industry
While data and processes are key pillars on the journey to digital transformation, they cannot be successful without the people who power them (like you).
The value of humans in the digital transformation journey cannot be expressed enough.
Your influence inspires actions. These actions build behaviors, and these behaviors drive positive value, and this is when transformative outcomes are realized.
Never Underestimate the Influence of the Human
“Know that the real ROI is found in what people are able to do.”
A recent McKinsey report says that “Big Data will become a key basis of competition, underpinning new waves of productivity growth, innovation, and consumer surplus — as long as the right policies and enablers are in place.” It’s that last part — about the enablers — where many companies still fall short.
The truth is data has no real intrinsic value. The real value is created when data is applied to solve a specific problem by humans. This starts with asking the right questions, having proper access to accurate data, the analysis and interpretation that comes with having the context of the business question and/or problem to be solved, and the cognitive ability to act upon these insights.
Question Everything
“Remember that sense of wonderment you felt as a child, where ‘why?’ was the response to anything and everything, and you had the freedom to be curious?”
While we tend to lose that spark of inquisitiveness as adults, rest assured, it’s never too late to rekindle it. By empowering everyone at your organization to question anything, you’ll create a culture that fuels learning and discovery and in turn, be able to use that collective knowledge, experience, and creativity to look at the business differently and solve for new opportunities.
This is fundamentally what analytics are all about.
As leaders navigating change, know that it’s okay to come up with new ways to do things, even if it runs counter to the culture for many organizations. It’s not approaching a challenge with a “this is how we’ve always done it” or “my gut tells me to do it this way,” but rather asking questions while having access to data, the context of the questions being asked, and the technology and skills to iterate on what you’re seeing, what you’re finding, and what the data is already telling you. From here, there is no end in sight for what your people can do from a calculation of value with analytics.
Invest in Reskilling Talent
“Don’t be afraid to invest in reskilling your people. They will impress you.”
As analytics have become critical imperatives for every digital transformation journey, it’s important to acknowledge the importance of reskilling employees to cope with the changing nature of processes and work.
When it comes to reskilling talent, the question isn’t “should we” or “shouldn’t we” — we all understand the inherent value. Rather, it lies in knowing where or how to do it. Think about the talent you already have and the level of analytics you’ll need to better understand how to make the most of your people and data sources.
If you wonder how to start the reskilling process, check out the Alteryx learning paths available to you and your teams along with the prescriptive approach to get your teams Alteryx certified. When you invest in reskilling for your team, they will show off their amazing talent by solving those high value problems with cool analytic insights.
“We recognized that we couldn’t teach all our teams accountancy, but knew that through Analytic Process Automation, we could get experienced accountants to execute advanced analytics.”
— Brian Milrine, Business Strategy Director, Brookson
Reskilling programs can help you build an internal pool of talented data workers who have the skills, desire, knowledge, and analytical process to be successful. These programs, while future-proofing your growth for now, are lifelines for employees.
Creating a culture of lifelong learning through the investment in human capital should be a requirement to both your medium to long-term growth and stability. Continuous reskilling will ensure that your people are ready for the now and the future of work.
Human capital is an organization’s biggest investment, and McKinsey’s research highlights the performance gains that result in reskilling and upskilling employees at all levels: “Shared accountability, individual accountability, and shared responsibility added a likelihood of outperforming expectations by 7, 10, and 15 percent, respectively.”