Data is regarded as one of the most valuable assets to any organisation. Understanding data and utilising it can help teams get ahead of their competition.
We spoke to Matt Foggon, a senior business intelligence analyst at Viperio, about his view on the important of data for esports teams.
Tell us a little about your professional journey to date?
“I graduated from Northumbria University with a BSc in Computer Science. As a graduate, I worked as a Business Systems Engineer which mainly involved implementing a cloud based ERP system for multiple businesses but also included working with data and in particular Business Intelligence tools to produce reports, dashboards and more, which the business could then use to drive insight and make decisions if needed.”
Do you see the use of technology & data playing a larger part in esports?
“Definitely! Data can be used to help players improve in-game, by aiding the understanding of how they’re performing across a range of scenarios, which importantly identifies areas of improvement, something all organisations want to see their teams do. Organisations can alsu use data to understand their market position, and the value they hold for potential partners. You can pretty much collect data about anything, it’s how you use it to your advantage and whether or not you have the skills to do that.”
Where do you think that esports teams can extract value from better utilising data?
“Esports teams can use data gathered from previous matches, tournaments and scrims to understand how their team is performing with different maps, playstyles and strategies. Rather than teams simply just looking over replays and discussing how they performed, they should back findings up with figures and make informed decisions. I believe this will help organisations and teams a lot more in the long run as tends over time can be analysed by figures. I think without hard statistics, a lot of people can make assumptions. I definitely think that more teams, expecially at the semi pro & amateur level need to explore the use of data analysis more than they currently are.”
Everyone has to have a break, so we asked Matt what he likes to do outside of crunching numbers.
Besides being a Data Analyst, what do you like to do outside of work?
“I like to play games myself and I’ve played quite a few at a decent level. I was Supreme in CS:GO and played that a hell of a lot when I was at university and as I grew tired of CS:GO i moved into Dota 2 where I then achieved Ancient 5 at my peak. After being introduced to PUGB after its release, I now usually play Battle Royale games, which I stream most weekdays on my twitch.tv channel. Sometimes I do venture back into CS:GO and other shooters such as Valorant, but i primarily play Warzone currently.
You can follow Matt on Twitter: @mfgn_
