September 20168 By Erich Gerber, GM, Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), TIBCO Software Inc.T here are numerous quantifiable benefits to analytics, including in-creased productivity and profitability. That's according to consultancy McKinsey & Co, which notes that companies that use customer analytics extensively are more than twice as likely to generate above aver-age profits than those that do not. McKinsey research found that adding analytics to op-erations to tackle Big Data can help com-panies outperform their peers by five per-cent in terms of productivity and six percent in profitability.As the benefits of engaging in Big Data and Analytics (BDA) initiatives are evident, a study by IDC predicts that BDA related services marketing in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan will rise from US$3.8 TIBCO provides integration and analytics software for companies to use on-premises or as part of cloud computing environments. Headquartered in California, USA, the company caters to around 10,000 customers worldwide through its software services.IN MY VIEWThree Ways to "Sell" Analytics to Your Sales Repsbillion to US$7.0 billion in 2019. This projected growth is propelled by the increasing demand for analytics-related systems integration and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services.Another study by IDC states that Australia, Singapore and India are currently the most advanced countries in Asia-Pacific in utilising analytics tools and applying data-driven approaches for enhanced decision making. While placed in the median range, China and India display accelerating Big Data growth rates in relation to IT expenditure. Such BDA initiatives have risen largely due to the region's drive to build Smart Cities. In particular, BDA is a key driver in Singapore's Smart Nation vision ­ critical to ensure seamless functioning and delivery of services in a highly connected nation and helping businesses seize new opportunities.However, most companies struggle to overcome human behaviour - specifically resistance from sales employees to use the tools - according to the McKinsey article."Leaders charged with making Big Data programs work need to understand and acknowledge this reality and develop specific approaches to build trust that overcomes the emotional resistance," the article notes. "That means more than just training employees to use technology to better engage with customers, the best leaders develop examples of what most effectively addresses specific concerns, creating a clear path of action and adopting new approaches to reward new behaviour."The article goes on to note the most common behavioural obstacles from sales representatives to using BDA and how to overcome them:1. Tool FatigueSales representatives are often exposed to tools that despite claiming to provide significant benefits are far too complicated, the article notes. "First, note that studies show that the additional time associated with working with recommendations from analytics is insignificant or non-Erich Gerber
< Page 7 | Page 9 >