A clear, common sense guide for implementing an effective data analytics strategy.

In today’s world, no matter the industry, businesses and organizations are competing in an information-based marketplace. To effectively compete, marketing leaders are tasked with timely analysis of mountains of customer and market information to make faster and better marketing decisions. It’s not just the task of collecting information. It’s the development of new insights and the ability to implement this new found knowledge to drive more profitable marketing – that’s what counts.

Marketers get paid to produce results. From chief marketing officers to independent small business owners, success is defined as growing a business, increasing profitability, having a better understanding of customers or being a market leader.

This book will demonstrate how the degree of success is in direct proportion to the ability to successfully analyze both traditional and big data. The information and wisdom derived from data is the ultimate competitive advantage.

We like this book so much that it is a part of our executive education curriculum. Probably one of the best books on data analytics basics in keeping with the TIMA philosophy that managers need to understand how to manage leverage data analytics for improved business results but not need to be data scientists themselves.

“Today’s business environment brings with it an onslaught of data. Now more than ever, managers must know how to tease insight from data – to understand where the numbers come from, make sense of them, and use them to inform tough decisions.”
- From the back cover of the book.

After you are able to digest the insights from the HBR Guide to Data Analytics Basics for Managers and you’re still hungry for more – this is the next logical choice. Highly recommended by IMA but difficult to get a copy of this book – it’s out of print. If you can get a copy of this book under $100. – you are doing well and it is worth it if you are serious about adding data/managerial analytics to your skill and knowledge base.

“Imagine spending a day with top analytical leaders and asking any question you want. In this book, Wayne Eckerson illustrates analytical best practices by weaving his perspective with commentary from seven directors of analytics who unveil their secrets of success. With an innovative flair, Eckerson tackles a complex subject with clarity and insight. Each of the book’s 20 chapters is a stand-alone essay on an analytical topic, yet collectively they form a concise methodology about how to implement a successful analytics program.” (from the publishers website). We at TIMA concur. This is a great read for those who are looking to understand the best practices in a data analytics leadership context. This book is an TIMA required book for our executive education programming.

“Most companies in most industries have excellent reasons to pursue strategies shaped by analytics. Virtually all the organizations we identified as aggressive analytics competitors are clear leaders in their fields, and they attribute much of their success to the masterful exploitation of data. Rising global competition intensifies the need for this sort of proficiency. Western companies unable to beat their Indian or Chinese competitors on product cost, for example, can seek the upper hand through optimized business processes.” (Excerpt from “Competing on Analytics” article from HBR, https://hbr.org/2006/01/competing-on-analytics

We couldn’t agree more. Highly readable and also an TIMA required educational programming text.

One of the best in terms of how to build the best data visualizations in order to convey data insights and outputs. Required text for IMA managerial analytics book camps.

“Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You’ll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory but made accessible through numerous real-world examples—ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation.