Analytics Getting Smarter, Seeks Reputation

Hari Kumar, Partner for FInancial Services Analytics Advisory at Ernst & Young emphasizes the all-pervasive nature of analytics today:

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Manoj Agrawal: Analytics is something that requires a proper strategy to begin with before any results can be realized. What are the most common gaps between strategy and execution? Why are they difficult to overcome? Give some examples of banks that have done it.

Hari: The biggest gap that I have seen between strategy and execution is in the expectation setting. More often than not, the expectations from the analytics initiatives are set at unrealistic levels and it becomes very difficult to satisfy those expectations. The expectations could be on the analytics capability, the expected benefits, the timelines, the accuracy levels of the results, etc, and the list goes on. These are difficult to overcome due to the commitments from vendors, internal and external delivery teams and sometimes due to unrealistic expectations from the stakeholders.

Other gaps commonly seen in execution are product/solution mismatches, attempts to force fit global solutions to local needs and quality resource constraints.