Sigma reposted this
I've been battling the idea of "self-service" for the last decade. Part of that time as an analyst myself forcing my beliefs on the teams I served and getting frustrated when they didn't agree with the narrow definition I offered. More recently my focus has been on understanding the disconnect between the business and the data analytics team. At Sigma, I get a ton of opportunities to do so. The vast majority of people I talk to are doing their best to serve a broad set of stakeholders, but often fall short because the tools they use only offer one version of self-service and expect their users to come to them rather than the other way around. What we really need is a way for users to bring their skills, no matter what they are, and leverage them to make decisions rather than just review historical data. More from me below👇
It’s abundantly clear that self-service means different things to different organizations. More often than not, there’s even a lack of consensus of what that means within each organization. Tools that require a dogmatic approach do a disservice to the organizations they intend to support. Instead, they need the flexibility to meet businesses where they are.
When I first got my hands on the product 3+ years ago, it was so clear to me how Sigma can help solve the self-service problem - especially after having used many other analytics products over the years that fell short. Sigma has evolved a TON in that timeframe but still by following this same approach/philosophy to self-service analytics. Great insights Reed!
at my last company self service meant downloading pivot tables from metabase and then going nuts in excel -- but then leadership had to redo the excel work before every board meeting! With Sigma that same leadership team can do the whole analysis one time from start to finish!
I've definitely seen teams struggle with the limits of one-size-fits-all self-service tools. It sounds like you're advocating for a more flexible approach where people's unique skills can shine. How has Sigma helped bridge that gap in your experience?
Solutions at Sigma
3dhttps://www.sigmacomputing.com/blog/the-unbearable-weight-of-true-self-service