Basically, the term ‘last mile’ originally came from the telecom sector. They were the first industry facing challenges of connecting households to the main telecommunications network. This term is also used heavily in the context of supply chains where the ‘last mile’ refers to the challenge of transporting passengers and/or packages from homes to hubs to destinations. This segment of the journey is under increased analysis and scrutiny as we mature into the age of digital commerce. The age-old challenges of minimizing cost, increasing efficiency, improving effectiveness and being flexible still remain.
In my perspective the ‘last mile’ is a critical segment in the journey of analytics solutions as well, requiring careful attention as it will always be the key touchpoint no matter how data and analytic techniques evolve. The resources it takes to make “deliveries” to the “doorsteps” of end users with short delivery times while still being able to generate actionable insights is a huge challenge. This is easier said than done and has, unequivocally, been the single most difficult piece to unravel in my decades long experience of building analytic capabilities and solutions for large corporations.
Keeping the promise made when delivering solutions to “doorsteps” of business end-users is the most critical piece of the experience, satisfaction and impact. What has been fascinating to me is that this part of the journey while being the shortest distance to travel is also the part that consumes the most resources and time. At the core of the challenge is having to rely on “one team" to deliver a number of solutions to a broad spectrum of stakeholders across the landscape of the organization. This fundamentally creates inefficiencies in terms of delivery timelines and the number of available resources for use.
It would not be an exaggeration to state that the analytic ‘last mile’ is the key battleground in developing targeted analytic strategies and the ability for organizations to compete effectively. It is increasingly not just about stockpiling assets and techniques but about the overall approach to getting the right analytics applied to the right business question at the right time. Some of this can be achieved by increased automation and better data management protocols but that only addresses the “cheap” portion of the analytic journey. In supply chain nomenclature it could be the equivalent of the fact that the 500-mile leg of the product traveling on the truck typically has the cheapest cost per mile while the beginning and ending ‘mile’ are often times where the cost per mile is the highest. We must pay attention to making this part of the journey as effective and efficient as possible.
Keep in mind that the ‘delivery’ and ‘solution experience’ should be as much a focus of building your analytic team’ brand and reputation as are the analytics you deploy. High performing analytic teams develop impactful partnerships via super agile and flexible networks inside and outside the organization. They also are at the cutting edge of investing in the most effective methods that optimize their productivity and they leverage all data available to them in delivering outstanding customer satisfaction.
The ‘last mile’ is what it is all about so become the team that aces it!
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