Staff Spotlight: Yesim Askin
Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Yesim Askin came to the United States thirteen years ago and has worked hard on her education, as well as her experience in the Information Technology field. Her background in business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing make her a perfect fit for her newly appointed position as Data Warehouse Lead on the Technical Team here at EBSP.
Background and Education
After finishing her undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering, Askin went on to Purdue University to complete her master’s degree in the same field, with a focus on computer interfaces and a thesis on usability. She completed her comprehensive exams for her doctorate degree at Lawrence Tech just a week before starting her new job here at EBSP about a year ago. She is currently writing her dissertation on the factors useful when analyzing different components of BI to help improve decision making in an organization. This correlates well with the work she’s doing on the project.
“It’s said in this age, that we’re data rich, but information/knowledge poor,” Askin notes. “There’s a lot of data everywhere, but getting to it and presenting it in a way that’s usable to people is the challenge.” With over ten years of experience working with reporting software, she understands what’s required to make a project like EBSP successful. “Data must be gathered and then organized in a storage place (our Data Warehouse), and then an application must be provided that will make it easy for end users to find the data they need.”
Putting People First
Overall, Askin feels that MSU put some important components into place that will help the new systems to be accepted, used and appreciated by the campus community. “I was very impressed that there was a change management and communications team. When consulting, I worked with either business or IT people, but not with a change management/communications group. There might have been one person that sent out emails, but there was no planning to it.” With an undertaking as large as EBSP, Askin feels this strategy will help ease people into the upcoming changes.
Essential Collaboration
Additionally, Askin notes that the EBSP staff members, who have come from all areas of campus, are collaborating very closely and successfully with the IT staff members, who are building and configuring the new systems. For many, this is a very new concept. Many have worked collaboratively within their own areas before, but learning to collaborate closely with those in completely different areas is often a new skill. “It’s not just getting financial data done, for example,” states Askin. “Now functional units have to explain these processes to EBSP teams, so the EBSP teams can figure out how to do it in the new system. In return, the EBSP teams have to explain how the new IT Solutions are going to be built.” While working collaboratively sometimes appears to slow things down, understanding each other’s work is essential to the success of the projects.
“We have good people here, who are doing an awesome job," says Askin. "MSU is a global university, and our work will help MSU be even better. Ultimately, our job is to deliver this project, and we will make sure that happens.”