(US and Canada) Yazhene Krishnaraj, McKesson’s Head of Decision Intelligence for US Pharmaceutical, speaks with Susan Wilson, Group VP Americas Solution Leader at Informatica, in a video interview about data analytics architecture, value delivery, data literacy programs, the data marketplace, and predictive analytics.

At the onset, Krishnaraj states that there is no single answer to the question of what a data analytics architecture looks like. She notes that the data analytics architecture depends on the holistic technology infrastructure. For better data analytics capability, streaming capability also matters. She mentions newer technologies like data mesh and data fabric and urges organizations to reconsider their necessity in the current organizational structure.

In continuation, Krishnaraj states that incorporating advanced technology does not serve the purpose if it does not deliver value. Then, she emphasizes that the best practice is based on a particular use case and the ecosystem it revolves around, to optimize a platform.

Moving forward, Krishnaraj discusses the value roadmap and prioritizes the available data in the current infrastructure, the feasibility metrics, and the availability of the right talent. She declares data literacy one of her top priorities. To pursue this goal, the organization is focusing on providing basic data literacy to its entire audience, while providing deeper insights to those who use data heavily in their day-to-day work.

Krishnaraj plans to measure the success of the program with surveys and analysis of the impact pre and post-literacy. Explaining the success metrics, she discusses different target personas and says that post the implementation of the data literacy program, deriving insights has become easier and faster.

• The first persona is an executive or anyone else who uses data to make decisions
• The next is someone who analyzes data and derives insights from it
• The third is the community of developers who can become more knowledgeable about data and develop their proficiency in accessing and understanding it

Speaking of the data marketplace Krishnaraj believes it is a great starting point to present data, but without the right literacy, data can be misused. From a technology perspective, it is a good starting point to provide the right tools to use data better. However, providing a data marketplace and the right tools does not ensure good decision-making. This is where data literacy skills come to the rescue, says Krishnaraj.

Furthermore, she highlights that historically, the organization had a central analytics team that understood both data and business. But Krishnaraj is mindful now since the organization is moving towards predictive analytics.

In conclusion, she states that predictive analytics is great but organizations need to ensure they have the right literacy program. She reckons that as a technology team, their goal is to enable the community.

CDO Magazine appreciates Yazhene Krishnaraj for sharing insights with our global community.

See more from Yazhene Krishnaraj

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