Data scientists trained at SAS Institute develop Hi3G’s analysis capabilities

The telecom company Hi3G has long worked with analysis to support staff in their daily work. The goal is that analytics should proactively add value to the organization, which Hi3G has made possible by training key employees through the SAS Analytics Value Training for Data Science.

In 2012 Harvard Business Review bestowed data scientist with the title of sexiest profession of the 2000s. Even though IT and technology are still the industries with the greatest need for data scientists, other industries and functions are in dire need of people with analysis skills and knowledge, such as marketing and financial services. According to the American career site Glassdoor, data scientist is the best-paid job in the U.S. right now, showing the great gap between demand and supply of such talent. Even in Sweden, there is a lack of qualified people who can identify the business value within the organization’s data.

The telecom company Hi3G with the brand name 3 has identified the need to work more proactively with analytics in all parts of the company in order to stay competitive. To reach this goal, Hi3G made significant reorganizations within the company, which included centralizing the analytics department. In addition, the company also changed how the employees in that department worked and prioritized their time.

“Today we work with what we call Analytics 2.0, which is to say that we prioritize the areas we should analyze based on their business value. This means that we can spend a lot of time on areas that have the potential to vastly contribute to our business and create a real competitive advantage.

A part of this work involved extensive training of our analysts, and SAS Institute’s Analytics Value Training for Data Science taught exactly the kind of skills that we want to reinforce,” explains Elis Rosén, Head of Analytics at 3.

Advanced analytics requires new competence

Elis Rosén has seen that the new way of working puts new demands on the analysts. Aside from a high degree of competence within analytics and programming, they also need a deep understanding of business.

“Data scientists are a sought-after target group and it is hard to find good candidates. There are many good analysts who can handle data, but they often lack soft skills like communication, presentation and storylining techniques as well as an understanding of business,” explains Elis Rosén.

 “The three employees who have gone through the training have gotten an entirely new perspective on analytics, which makes it much easier to arrive at which analyses we should prioritize as a department. In order to push through structural changes on this scale, we need people with an analytical skill set, but also a fundamental understanding of our business,” says Rosén.

The key employees who have gone through the training

• Challenge the organization in a way that helps develop and push further changes
• Have an easier time managing new work duties due to an increased understanding of the business
• Can run workshops themselves to pass on knowledge to colleagues, both inside and outside their own departments
• Can present results for the management group in an easy-to-understand and clear way
• Have an easier time navigating in the analytics environmentThe key employees who have gone through the training

Implementation of an analytical mindset requires structural changes

Gathering all analysts in the same department was a requirement for being able to free up time for working with prescriptive analysis. At the same time, it helps to keep talent within the company, and they are stimulated by working closely with one another.

Hi3G’s future development plan includes implementing business analytics to a greater extent, which means that even important strategic decisions will be data driven and based on analysis. This will enable Hi3G to be the analytical challenger it aims to be within its industry.