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Covid-19 a 'turning point' for data analytics

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a turning point for how organisations in the UAE and the Middle East use data analytics to accelerate their digital transformation, experts said.
"Data analytics can enhance customer and employee engagement, facilitate alternate working, and create new streams of digital revenue," said Thierry Nicault, EVP for the Middle East, Africa, and Central Europe at Salesforce. "As the Middle East moves from the reactive phase to the new normal and return to growth, CEOs who plan the next phase of their digital transformation will become more competitive."
Abboud Ghanem, regional vice president for the Middle East and Africa at Alteryx, warned that the divide between those companies that are analytically mature and those that aren't will only become more pronounced in the near future.
"While the economic landscape may be unpredictable in the coming months and years as we deal with the aftermath of the pandemic, one thing is clear - the business insights gained from a human-centric approach to analytics helps companies to stay ahead of the competition."
"Data and analytics remain crucial to navigating the uncertainty that we expect will continue for some time," he added. "The Covid-19 pandemic is a reminder of how accurate and timely data and analytics provides the foundation for critical operating decisions, and we saw this in action. For example, we saw airlines that needed to adapt quickly, still invested in analytics to help them prepare for the post-lockdown era to analyse and predict the most popular routes so they can plan staffing and fuel consumption early in order to improve operational efficiency and maximise revenue potential.
In other examples, insurance companies are leveraging analytic process automation to build a robust, repeatable, automated workflows to identify and mitigate insurance fraud. Oil and gas companies have had to pivot and adapt quickly to the realities of rapidly changing macro-economic conditions by leveraging analytics in order to drill down into the cost of oil production by barrel and by plant.
Ihab Farhoud, director of Solutions Engineering at VMware Middle East, Turkey, and North Africa, noted that with the advances in cloud and AI today, organisations can adopt data analytics more easily and thus gain immense value from data.
"Organisations in the public and private sector - from government departments and major utilities, to healthcare providers, retailers and financial institutions - increasingly rely on their ability to gather and analyse data effectively," he said. "For example, healthcare providers can spot trends in infection and recovery rates, which can help with establishing more effective policies and procedures at the government level, while retailers can analyse data regarding footfall and buying habits to cater to customers more effectively and increase sales."
Looking ahead, Farhoud said that data analytics will help businesses understand the changes in market conditions accurately, forecast and predict market transitions, as well as help with business agility.
"By having an insight into future market conditions, businesses will be able to develop new applications that are based on different or enhanced products and services that will fit in with, and be suitable for, the new norm," he said. "This will give organisations an advantage, ensuring business continuity and success in future market conditions."
rohma@khaleejtimes.com