In our last blog entry we used the term “Power Data Analyst” to describe the sort of person who performs the work of “Why” and “What if” in the management decision making process. You might be wondering who these people are and what do they do. You might even be one without knowing it!

The Characteristics of a Power Data Analyst
The Power Data Analyst has the following characteristics and roles.

1. They have a broad understanding of the business and the business environment.
2. They have an in depth understanding of the data available in the business as well as data that is available from outside the company.
3. They generally have good excel skills because they generally use excel to perform their work.
4. They are very often more reclusive characters because they have a more analytical approach to life. They like dealing with the numbers more than they like dealing with other people. They tend not to “suffer fools” and they tend to be very passionate about their work.
5. They can be found in business or IT. Though by the nature of IT where people move from project to project, they are more often found in the business.
   If they are in IT then they are usually in the Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence support area.

The Role of a Power Data Analyst
The Power Data Analyst has the following roles.

1. They often have the role of coming up with new ideas. These ideas can be many and varied. They could be new marketing campaigns, new ways to optimize the business, new ways to cut costs.
2. They are often the “go to guy/gal” when people have a problem and don’t how know to solve it. When a senior manager needs some insight, advice, guidance from someone with their finger on the pulse of the business? They know “the guy” or “the gal” to go and seek out. That will be what we call a Power Data Analyst.
3. They often have the role of evaluating ideas that other people have come up with to value those ideas fairly and realistically so that a reasonable business case can be presented to management for a go/no go decision.

The Support of a Power Data Analyst

Given the level of importance of these people in an organization you might be thinking that they would be well supported and well funded. Since they are a key source of new ideas to take the business forward and they are usually very few, making sure they have what they need to do their jobs is not expensive.

Unfortunately you would be incorrect. The Power Data Analysts are generally not that well supported and not that well funded. This is exactly because they are generally very few and they do not get many “votes” when it comes to funding and support. We find it amazing how poorly supported these people can be within their organizations because we think they are really important people.

The Work of a Power Data Analyst

The major portions of the work of a Power Data Analyst are as follows:

1. They tend to spend quite a lot of time rummaging through data looking for inspiration for “possible new ideas”. One mode of doing this is performing unstructured queries and what if analysis and just “see what takes their fancy”.This is, of course a highly creative and unstructured way to work. It is a bit like driving around a neighborhood you are thinking of buying a house in and just seeing if one of the houses strikes you as what you are looking for.
2. The second mode of operating is where the Power Data Analyst has come up with a specific hypothesis or been brought a specific hypothesis by someone else. No matter what was the driving cause of the hypothesis the Power Data Analyst has one.The Power Data Analyst then goes to the data warehouse with the hypothesis in mind so as to prove or dis-prove it. If it can not be proven one way or the other then to gather evidence in support of or in denial of the hypothesis.Power Data Analysts spend a lot of time attempting to prove or disprove a wide variety of hypotheses.
3. The third mode of operation is where a hypothesis for a new idea, some new business initiative, has shown promise and needs to be evaluated to decide whether a business case will be created and brought to the appropriate level of management for a decision to be made. The Power Data Analyst spends a lot of time preparing business cases for proposals for changes to the business.

Of course there are grades or levels of Power Data Analysts just like there are levels in most roles within a company.

The more experienced and more knowledgeable Power Data Analysts might work in “Head Office” or the “Corporate HQ” while the less experienced might work in one of the divisions or regions and only have a view of the business in the area they work in.

There needs to be a progression plan for Power Data Analysts in any large organization.

How to Support the Power Data Analysts

We said above that we see that Power Data Analysts are less well supported than they otherwise might be. In many organizations we talk to we see the Power Data Analysts being given the same tools as “everyone else”.

We would argue that the Power Data Analyst would very much benefit from a greater level of support. We would argue that companies would benefit from giving Power Data Analysts the tools they need to get the job done even if the tools are not intended to be rolled out to large numbers of users.

We believe in helping the Power Data Analysts find a better way to do their unique and complicated job.

Meta5 is that better way. Meta5 will typically make a Power Data Analyst 3 to 5 times more effective in the analysis part of the job than with any other tools.

When you are able to gain a 3 to 5 times productivity improvement of some of the best and brightest people in your organization? We believe that is something really worth trying for. We believe in always searching for the better way. And Meta5 is the better way.

Meta5: The Better Way.

Thank you for your time and attention.