Big Data is a zenith concept and ever-growing, and here to stay. We are the tip of the iceberg and with companies growing in technology, the intelligence used to build smart tools will help to segregate data in a better manner. Big data with permeate throughout all the industries and at every entry level of business.
But what is Big Data? Here are some basic facts about it;
- Big Data is expected to grow to 40 zettabytes by 2020, which is 50 times of what is was in 2010. (Talk about getting Big)
- It is being created at high speed and generated by multiple source – people, machines, tools, etc
- Most of the data is unstructured. It a pile of content that has useful data but unorganised and written in such way that current technology cannot read to process or interpret it properly for users.
- Few companies have started to rely on Big Data after knowing how it can be very useful in knowing their target audiences’ needs.
All the businesses generate and collect data, whether it is email exchange from customers, website traffic or activity, sales transaction from cash register, or in-product user behaviour. What all of these businesses need to realise is that their data can be transformed into intelligence and be of huge business value.
Big Data gets advantage in the Competition
It has been seen that data-driven companies perform better than other companies in the same industry. Transforming big data into a structured and meaningful content is just seeing it in a productive way to strengthen the business performance, relationships, and productivity. Big data and intelligence cannot replace human insights and vision, but their intelligence help the businesses to take decisions with more agility and be competitive in the market.
Leverage of Big Data
Many companies have started to structure their data into intelligible and actionable content for their users. Depending on how you want big data to work for you, here are few tips how small business should approach it for their business.
- Know what matters: Define what is important to your business and recognize which data sources and/or metrics would be key to filter out from the noise of all the data that is out there.
- Take small steps toward big data: You can easily get overwhelmed with the amount of data that your business collects. Prioritize the “need to know” intelligence from the “good to know” intelligence. (This goes back to knowing what matters for your business!) Then collect, analyze and refine the process. Once you are comfortable seeing the data, you can expand your dashboards and intelligence-gathering for larger initiatives.
- Get into habit: When facing business decisions, start asking, “What does the data tell us?” Create a culture where data becomes part of the discussion and decision-making; questions on why a certain data set may not be available may also lead you to realize more important metrics that you may not have considered before.
Know what you want in your Data Product
Many companies are building smart tools and data products to manage the huge amount of data that is being created by consumers, customers and businesses and making the data actionable and insightful for the end user. So while there are many great solutions out there, consider these key product qualities that will make up a successful data product for your business:
- Automatic – Automation saves your team from manual processes but also eliminates bad data inefficiencies.
- Intuitive – while the technology might be industry-disruptive, it shouldn’t disrupt your day-to-day operations. A great product will be intuitive, and should be augmenting your workflows or insights into your business.
- Collaborative – different teams and stakeholders involved in the business should have visibility to the same data so that you can drive same smarter decisions while all on the same page.
- Intelligent – intelligence data is really about seeing the information in a new way that is actionable and productive. A smart tool should be identifying and helping you to work more efficiently so that you can augment your efforts.
- Accessible – your data insights should be accessible from anywhere, anytime so that you can take action or make smarter decisions, wherever you’re working.
Big Data is now becoming a known term which just doesn’t say segregation of content but means a whole lot more to any sized business. And that’s why, it is the right time to know when to invest in a Big Data and reap its fruits.
