Episode I: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Data Analytics

Episode I:

Far out in the uncharted waters territory of the Galaxy of Audit lies a small big and mysterious
star called Data Analytics. Nobody has ever been there and nobody knows exactly how to get
there. But as legend has it, things are very much automated on that star, machines do most of
the uninteresting stuff and humans are the analytical lots, like… really analytical (don’t ask me
how analytical, I’ve never been there). They have this thing called artificial intelligence, where
you can simply feed it with raw data and it will churn out working papers like a dream.

Orbiting this star at a distance of roughly 2 light years away is an utterly insignificant little blue
planet whose residents so amazingly primitive that they still think smart analyser is a pretty neat
idea.

The residents of that planet spend a quarter of their life staring at computer screens with a little
ring in the center spinning round and round, and when they see an icon that looks like a pair of
glasses they go totally nuts. Most of the people were tired and sleepy for pretty much of the time,
even the ones using smart analyser.

Many were increasingly of the opinion that something’s gotta change. And then on one fine
Thursday, a group of explorers wearing blue polo tees with 4 letters printed in front set out a
spaceship with a mission to reach that Data Analytics Star.

This book serves as a guide to whoever that is adventurous enough to ever want to explore the
galaxy and hitchhike a ride with that you-know-what-4-letters spaceship. When you are new on
board this ship, you should know the crew –to whom you can speak and from whom you should
stay away. Oh did I not mention that they also have a criteria to select who they want on their
ship? You must be analytical, willing to learn and most importantly laugh at their jokes.

The ship has a control station grounded on the planet, where the big boss stays – affectionately
referred to as Madam. She is tall, slim and has very nice hair. She is mother of 3 exceptionally
tall and slim kids. When you see the family together you can’t help but marvel at the magic of
good genes and wonder what’s their diet. She is a true visionary leader. Back in 2013 they were
looking to improve audit quality, and exploring different ways of doing audit. Then data analytics
wasn’t a clear answer, but now it is proven that she is right. The rest of the crew were all hand-
picked by her. When asked what she looks for in recruiting the right people, “curiosity, self-
driven, resilience and entrepreneurship”, she said, “it’s a tough job – a lot of road blocks and
uncertainties; but it’s also exciting. No two days are the same.” Madam looks forward to the day
when we finally land on the star of Data Analytics. She says it’s not going to be far, and she
appeals to all the people on the planet to upgrade themselves and not to become an obsolete fax
machine.

The captain of the ship is an alpha male TCL. Don’t be deceived by his big smile, he likes to
show off his impeccable teeth, without even one single cavity. But the reason that you probably
should stay away from him is not because the shine of his teeth will cast a shadow over you, but
really he is so smart that makes you doubt your life. He steers the ship and makes sure we are
going in the right direction. This is not the first time that captain TCL is on a space exploratory
ship. He was also the captain for the space exploratory to the star of eAudit too. A pioneer, he is
a firm believer in making embracing technology to release people of mundane and uninteresting
work. “This is the future”, said captain TCL firmly, “most people are unwilling to change because
they are afraid of the unknown.” But, to quote capital captain Kirk – “there’s no such thing as the
unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood”.

Michelle, ma belle. The most loving creature on the ship. If you have been going to trainings,
there is a good chance that you have already met her. She is pretty, sweet and also
unapologetically smart and hardworking. She has a master in business analytics in
consultingaAccounting and bBusiness iInformation tTechnology, and she is currently pursuing
recently conferred a data analytics specialist diploma at Temasek Poly. Her interests in statistics
started back in 2008 when she wasis trained as a sampling specialist. Michelle jumps at
opportunities to learn new things. It’s hard to imagine beneath that amiable personality, one can
find such an adventurous soul. She has PADI scuba-diving and free-diving certificates, a
motorcycle license, and she even has a tattoo! #YOLO. It is therefore no surprise that Michelle is
in the Data Analytics (DA) crewteam, working on innovation. Michelle does trainings, oversees
the development process of our routines, reviews our work, listens to our waning and every now
and then buys snacks for us. She is very busy but if you approach her she still finds time to talk
to you.

Mr Zhuang works out every morning. “I run to the gym, work out and run back. Damn shagged.”
With that fresh-out-of-army swag, he doesn’t look as shagged as he sounds. Even though his
hairstyle plays a big part, he is undoubtedly the fittest of us all (not a competitive pool actually).
His predator style calf links make him look more alpha than a Cheetah. Mr Zhuang is the man
behind DAP (Dynamic Analytics Platform) and supporting many engagements. He is also a big
advocator of this space cum the exploratory journey to Data Analytics star exploratory project.
He believes it’s important to acquire new data analyticsDA skills as we will move there one day
or another eventually. He is also our brilliant Public Relations expert. Calling Aall
engagementaudit residents please come and look for him.
“Warrior” $500 in Korea.

The pretty Jessica does ballet, yoga, and she always goes to body pump class during lunch time.
Honestly there is no need to come to work so pumped up. She lifts weights therefore she is not
the one to mess with! Jessica is our Tableau expert; she develops routines, does work papers,
prepares APM, goes to presentations. She is an all-in-one person. Jessica started the negativity
jar to stop people from saying no to her but ended up contributing to 50% of its value. She joined
our team not only because it is the future but also it is interesting work. When is the last time you
were creative? Ask Jessica, she would say “I tell you! Everyday!”.

I am in charge of the loathsome task of data sanitisation. Loathsome to you, but not to me keke.
A day at work includes developing logics for new routines, playing around with Tableau, doing
some IDEA programming, attending meetings with engagements, talking to the KRSB gals, and
when at home taking some online courses of data analytics. 3 years ago when I was at the
freshmen orientation, this is not the path that my family, I and the HR had planned. Life is full of
surprises, isn’t it? The day that the ship to Data Analytics picked me up is the day that Madam
called me to her room and asked if I were interested in joining the DA teamcrew. At first it seems
that my ticket to board is that package of excel macros I developed for the aAudit
residentsfunctions. But then I think againthinking back this event that changed the course of my
life like a tornado has in fact started much earlier when I posed, it started from a simple question
that I askedto my engineering flat-mate – how can I sanitise this listing faster?

Now you are familiar with the crew, stay tune for the upcoming episodes. wWe will be covering
the operational manuals for this ship in the following chapters. Hesitate no more, fellas, hop right
in! We can take you as far as the Audit Data Analytics roundabout.