Interview Dr. Christopher Harms, SKOPOS ELEMENTS "It is not enough to have data ‘somewhere’"

Research data disappearing somewhere in the middle of nowhere without labels and names is unfortunately not uncommon. This is why a so-called data culture is needed, in which a systematic approach to data is cultivated so that its potential can be fully exploited. Dr. Christopher Harms, SKOPOS ELEMENTS, claims to have found a solution to the problem – data stacks.

Maybe we'll start at the beginning: What is a data stack, anyway? 

Dr. Christopher Harms: It's about creating a central platform for data and insights. But this cannot be done by a single tool: It is not enough to buy a dashboard software or to become familiar with R or Python. Instead, it needs multiple building blocks that, orchestrated together, can be a one-stop store for all the data needs of operational market researchers. For us, these building blocks make up a data stack. They include, in addition to dashboard tools such as Tableau, a modern database system, a solution for automatic integration and for preparing the data, analysis tools such as R and Python. These individual parts build on each other to create the data stack we mean.  

Sign up for the webinar (11 May, 14:00 hrs, in German)  

You help companies gain control over their data chaos. Why do many companies create such chaos when dealing with data? 

Dr. Christopher Harms: In many companies, a true data culture is currently only just being developed. Market researchers have always worked with data – so there is no need to explain "data-driven work" to them – but it is not enough to have data "somewhere". Results of projects in our industry are mostly stored as SPSS raw data with different names and labels, as Excel spreadsheets and as PowerPoint reports. If you are well organized, you might have them well sorted in a SharePoint. But that is not enough. What is often lacking is a systematic way of handling this data that makes it possible to exploit its full potential. In concrete terms, this requires that this data is fed into a technical infrastructure in which all relevant stakeholders can obtain data, insights, and analyses via suitable tools. And this is not only related to a result report from a project, but also related analyses across multiple data sources to identify trends and correlations.  Of course, a technical solution alone is not the solution to all problems; it is accompanied by changes in processes and competencies. With this development – technically and professionally – tamed data then opens up a wide range of new possibilities for evaluations, reports and further work with the insights.  

What are the technical requirements for companies to use your solution? 

Dr. Christopher Harms: This is not so easy to answer in a nutshell, because at SKOPOS ELEMENTS we always implement our solutions according to the requirements of our clients. We are not a software provider, but rather act as consultants.   We have customers who receive the entire data platform from us as a "full service". This means that we obtain (automated) data from our client and take care of all technical processes and infrastructure. Apart from a connection to the data, our customer does not need to bring anything.   Other clients, however, are already so far advanced in their organization that all tools are already provided by IT and it is only a matter of implementing them appropriately for the market research department. We then work directly on the customer's infrastructure.   In between, there are also other ways in which we take over parts as a service and only provide consulting support for other aspects. It all depends on the requirements and possibilities of the customer.  

There are a few data science solution providers out there. How does SKOPOS ELEMENTS differ from them?   

Dr. Christopher Harms: Through our many years of experience in market research and data science consulting, we know both sides: the technical requirements of a modern data stack, but also the special requirements of market researchers and their data. We don't need to be told the meaning of labeled SPSS data, survey data and codebooks – that's been our daily business for years. We are also familiar with the questions and established methods. In our projects, we combine this with technical aspects (building ELT/ETL pipelines, databases, monitoring systems) and modern machine learning and AI solutions.  From a technical perspective, the requirements for a data platform are no different in market research than in other business areas. In the future, all corporate functions will have to build or establish their own data platforms (by the way, this is what is hidden behind the "data mesh"). The technical solutions will be very similar, but being familiar with the issues, problems and wishes of our customers is a great advantage.  

To what extent do you use AI in your solutions?   

Dr. Christopher Harms: As a data science consultancy, we regularly develop AI-supported solutions in our projects: individual text analysis models based on our own language models, prediction models for customer churn or time series analyses with machine learning algorithms.   What all these approaches have in common is that they require a solid and reliable database. That is why we are creating a foundation with the data platforms so that our clients can also integrate their market research data into AI models and analytics solutions in the future.  

Who should definitely not miss your webinar?  

Dr. Christopher Harms: All market researchers who want a central knowledge platform for their insights data and want to learn from an independent consultancy how this can be implemented. And all those who constantly hear something about the "data mesh" from their IT and data colleagues, but don't really know what to do with it.  

Sign up for the webinar (11 May, 14:00 hrs, in German)  

Dr Christopher Harms has been co-founder and managing director of SKOPOS ELEMENTS since 2020. There, he advises and supports customers in all matters relating to data science. Previously, he worked for three years in the Research & Development department of SKOPOS GROUP. His focus was on the application of new statistical methods in market research. He studied and conducted research at universities in Bonn and Eindhoven. 

 

– published in German on marktforschung.de – 

 

Many thanks to the Week of Market Research - sponsors
 

  

 
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