Digital Transformation and the Key to Data Talent in the Cayman Islands

Colin Smith here, The Agency’s newest Senior Recruiter specialising in all things technology!

For this week’s blog, I was inspired by a Tech Talks event hosted by Cayman Enterprise City on “Digital Transformation and Our Evolving Islands”. They hosted a wide range of panelists from different industries that shared their take on digital transformation and how it affects everyone, from Tech companies to Farmers to the Police Force! A very insightful event and some interesting points were brought up, which brings me to the focus of my blog.

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation can, and likely will, look different for every company. It can be hard to use a definition that applies to all, but I think Salesforce hit the nail on the head with this one:

“Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital transformation.”

Whatever definition you use, I think most will agree that it is a critical component to the success or failure of many companies. Those that fail to keep up often find themselves left behind by competitors that have adapted to the ever-changing technology industry.

The Importance of Data in Digital Transformation

Typically, people focus on 4 main pillars of digital transformation – Data, Technology, Organizational Change, and Processes. Today I want to focus on Data as I have seen a huge increase in demand for Data experts in the Cayman Islands and believe it is going to be a key to success for many companies here.

Unfortunately, for many companies today most of their data and processes are not up to basic standards – here are some scary facts from a Harvard Business Review blog I read:

• On average, 47% of newly created data records have at least one critical (e.g., work-impacting) error.
• Only 3% of the DQ (Data Quality) scores in our study can be rated “acceptable” using the loosest-possible standard.
• It costs ten times as much to complete a unit of work when the data are flawed in any way as it does when they are perfect.

Data Talent

While all of this might seem a bit scary and present a huge challenge for companies to keep up with the ever-changing market, it also presents a huge opportunity, and taking the first step in the right direction is putting together an all-star talent team to help you. Here are two roles I have seen a rising demand for on-island.

Data Scientists

Data scientists are big data operators, they gather and analyze large sets of structured and unstructured data. A data scientist’s role combines computer science, statistics, and mathematics. They analyze, process, and model data to interpret the results and then create actionable plans for companies and other organizations. They are analytical experts that use their skills in both technology and social science to find trends and manage data.

Some of the key benefits of having a great Data Scientist on your team are – they will help management and leadership teams to make better decisions using real-time data and business intelligence, identify and communicate business/sales opportunities based on trends in your market, improve data security and even help you recruit the right talent for your organization.

Database Administrators

Database administrators – DBAs, for short – set up databases according to a company’s needs and make sure they operate efficiently. They will also fine-tune, upgrade, and test modifications to the databases. A good DBA ensures that measures are in place to maintain the integrity of a database and that the database is not accessible to unauthorized users.

They are also responsible for granting permission to the users of the database and creating procedures to recover the database from failures due to human, natural, or hardware errors. In turn, minimalizing the loss of data, which we already mentioned can increase your cost by ten times more than a properly managed and accurate database.

Conclusion

I think it is safe to say that Digital Transformation (with a focus on Data) can add value to any organization that is willing to adapt, implement the right technology and hire the right talent. I firmly believe the Cayman Islands has many companies getting on board and we will see a rise in demand for these types of positions in the coming months.

The Agency can help you find the right people for the job, and I would love to meet anyone looking to build out their Tech & Data teams or anyone looking for their next opportunity!

Please reach out to me at Colin@theagency.ky to discuss or share your own thoughts on these topics, thanks for reading!