Accenture Technology Vision 2013

Trend 2. Design for Analytics
Accenture Technology Vision 2013
value by collecting data with the
real end purpose in mind. The result:
better data, which equals
better insight.
Ford Motor Company research
logically deduced that the customers
of its hybrid vehicles preferred using
electric power as much as possible.
However, the system was originally
designed to deploy electric power
based on other parameters, such as
amount of battery power remaining.
But Ford developed an algorithm
using data from the cars’ built-in
GPS systems to track when drivers
were close to home or frequently
vii
visited locations close to home.
Knowing that the vehicles were
more likely to be within the range
of a battery charge, the engineers
were able to adjust the powertrain
controls to rely more on electricity
than on gasoline in those scenarios.
Customers don’t see the algorithm
working, but they do see that they’re
relying more on electric power,
which delivers higher levels of
customer satisfaction.
In a short time, savvy businesses
can create a virtuous feedback loop
that allows them to collect, analyze,
and respond in an increasingly
agile manner, and then revisit their
questions on a periodic basis in
order to continuously assess new
data in the context of changing
business conditions and strategies.
This will require the integrated
involvement of IT with the business,
because IT may need to tweak data
collection mechanisms, including
user interfaces, on mobile apps and
enterprise applications in order to
acquire additional data points.
Foresight:
establishing a
feedback loop
for insight
What will the feedback loop look
like when software is designed for
analytics It starts with setting goals
and creating questions that need
to be answered. Ask the leaders of
organizations within your enterprise
if they can clearly articulate the key
specific questions they are trying
to answer; many will not be able
to, and fewer still will have those
questions documented and feeding
into teams to answer them. Though
obvious on the surface, this task
should not be underestimated. It is
not trivial. And it is not something
for which most companies have a
formal process. They need to
create one.
“ What will the feedback loop look like
when software is designed for analytics
It starts with setting goals and creating
questions that need to be answered.
”
26