BOOK REVIEW · Measurement
Competing on Analytics
In short: the book that put analytics on the boardroom agenda. Davenport and Harris argue that measurement is a source of competitive advantage, not a reporting cost, and give you the DELTA model for building the capability. Strategic rather than tactical - read it for the why and the org design, not the how-to.
What it covers.
This is a strategy book about measurement, not a methods manual. It makes the case that companies win by being better at analytics than their rivals, profiles the firms that did it, and lays out what it takes organizationally to become one of them.
- Analytics as a source of competitive advantage
- Profiles of analytical competitors
- The DELTA framework - Data, Enterprise, Leadership, Targets, Analysts
- Building analytical talent and culture
- Analytics in the age of big data and AI (updated edition)
- Roadmap for developing organizational capability
Who it’s for.
Marketing and growth leaders making the case for investment in measurement, and anyone designing an analytics function. It is about capability and strategy - individual analysts will find the frameworks useful but the detail lives at the organizational level.
Evergreen
- Analytics as competitive advantage
- The DELTA capability model
- Leadership and culture around data
- Talent as the constraint
Read with a 2026 eye
- Some pre-2017 case-study outcomes
- Early framing of big data and AI
- Vendor and tooling references
Key ideas worth stealing.
Measurement is a strategy, not a cost center. The book's lasting contribution is reframing analytics as a way to win rather than a reporting overhead - the argument every measurement lead still has to make to a skeptical finance team.
DELTA names the real constraints. Data, Enterprise-wide approach, Leadership, Targets, and Analysts - the model is a useful diagnostic for why an analytics investment stalls, and it almost always points at leadership and talent rather than tools.
Analytical competitors commit at the top. The profiled companies did not dabble; leadership made measurement central. That lesson lands harder in 2026, when access to the same tools is universal and the differentiator is organizational will.
How it reads.
Measured and executive in tone - it reads like a Harvard Business Review argument extended to book length, because it is. It is not a weekend how-to; it is the strategic case you hand to a leadership team, backed by cases and a clear capability model.
The RGM verdict.
Read it to win the argument for measurement investment and to design the capability behind it. For the methods themselves - experiments, attribution, MMM - pair it with hands-on references and our measurement library.
At ~304 pages it is a strategy read, not a manual - most valuable to the person building the case for an analytics function.
Asked & answered.
What is the DELTA model in Competing on Analytics?
DELTA stands for Data, Enterprise-wide approach, Leadership, Targets, and Analysts - the five elements Davenport and Harris argue an organization needs to compete on analytics. It works well as a diagnostic for where an analytics program is stuck.
Is Competing on Analytics still relevant?
Yes as strategy and organizational design. The core argument - that analytical capability is a durable advantage - is arguably truer now, though some case outcomes and the big-data framing show their age.
Is it a technical or how-to book?
No. It is a strategy and capability book for leaders. For hands-on methods see our measurement guides on experiments, attribution, and marketing mix modeling.