Poornima Ramaswamy: How Qlik is Using Data to Transform Business Processes

Qlik EVP Global Partnerships Poornima Ramaswamy shares how the
software company is enabling customers to respond to real-world
demands

When the pandemic struck, not even the most comprehensive
business continuity plans considered the whole world coming to a
standstill at the same time. During this time, data came into its
own as the backbone of business decision-making.


In this week’s Business of Data podcast, Qlik EVP Global
Partnerships and Chief of Staff to the CEO Poornima Ramaswamy
speaks to us about data’s evolution from a back-office function
to a front office enabler. With over twenty years of data
analytics experience Ramaswamy has seen first-hand that although
data has always been a key business priority, the challenge lies
in putting it at the center of operations.


“CEOs understand the importance of harnessing data and what that
can do for a business. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they
understand how to get to the end goal where data is a core part
of their business strategy. They still lean on technology teams
to help them navigate this,” she says. “But that is the first
opportunity for CEOs to actually understand what it means to be
data-driven.


“Many times, there’s a disconnect between organizational data
goals and reality. The aspiration to become data-driven and to
improve customer experience is there but the level of investment
and effort doesn’t match the aspirations.”
Responding to Real-World Demands

In Ramaswamy’s view, that discord between data aspirations and
becoming a data-driven organization is where CIOs and CDOs step
in. Data leaders will help business leaders understand what that
data journey should look like and move it from driving strategic
decisions to operational ones.


“Data teams should look beyond one- or two-year targets and base
decisions on data,” she says. “Many of our customers are
successfully getting executive buy-in and transforming the entire
organization, up and down the value chain.


“We’ve got a few customers in retail and electronics and through
COVID-19’s early stages, they recognized the importance of acting
on real-time events. So, it’s less about a short-term strategy
and more about keeping stores open and helping employees manage
KPIs, stock levels and supply chain bottlenecks, for example.


“As the pandemic moves into being endemic, and as other
international events pop up such as the California wildfires and
the looming gas shortages, customers want to respond to events
based on real-time data and not just at a strategic level, but
right down to the factory level.”
Key Takeaways


CEOs embrace data’s role but don’t know how to
operationalize it. As a back-office function, helping
drive strategic business decisions


CIOs and CDOs are stepping up to the plate.
Data leaders are helping organizations fulfill their data
strategies by mapping out the journey


Look beyond data short-term goals. A data
strategy should consider how to keep the business running in
times of uncertainty