Davide Cervellin, Head of EU Analytics at eBay, has said to Sourcingfocus that outsourcing data analytics to third party specialists can be a good move for companies looking to speed up their processes.

Cervellin had previously been giving a talk on how to make your organisation data-centric. A large portion of his talk emphasised the importance of data analytics to the financial side of any business. He also claimed that the modern Chief Financial Officer (CFO) needs to have a good understanding of technology and data - Cervellin himself reports directly to eBay CFO Robert H. Swan.

In a short chat after the talk, a Sourcingfocus representative asked Davide Cervellin whether outsourcing analytics is a good idea for companies. He responded that there are clear benefits to outsourcing anayltics, such as speeding up the process and attaining results more quickly, but that companies also need to approach outsourcing analytics with caution.

'It can be a good idea but can also be risky.' he said, 'you need a very strong contract in place with your [supplier] to protect your data.'

So outsourcing analytics is best left to smaller companies, while large companies are best off keeping those processes in-house?

'Not necessarily. The thing is, regardless of the size of your company, outsourcing analytics can speed things up massively.'

To a company the size of eBay, data is one of the most valuable resources available, hence why it has to be protected so assiduously. EBay itself suffered a major data breach last year, resulting in all users having to change their passwords.

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