Making Big Data Pay

“The world creates 5 exabytes of data every two days,” says, Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive officer,  ”That is roughly the same amount created between the dawn of civilization and 2003.” Trying to navigate big data has become a dead-end road for some businesses or more likely a confusion of multiple roads. How do you know the best road to take? How do you effectively manage and exploit big data? According to the top leaders interviewed by The Economist Intelligence Unit, there are several Insights on this challenge might help businesses begin to think about big data collection, management and analysis.

• Effective use of big data can reap financial performance.
• Exploiting big data requires a focus on business priorities.
• Talent matters as much as technology.
• Understanding customers better

1. High Performance Companies Have a Better Handle on Data

Companies who take data collection and analysis seriously tend to outperform their peers who do not. The research indicates that companies that take data seriously tend to become better at utilizing data collection and data analysis technologies. Priority drives decisions that impact the role of data across multiple points in the business. 63% percent of the companies leaders surveyed suggest that the greatest impact of big data in the business has been upon strategic decision-making.

2. Prioritizing Data Based on Business Goals

Many companies waste research dollars on data that does not drive the bottom line. Business leaders suggest that company leaders prioritize potential challenges/research projects based on bottom line goals. Then they should develop a data research and analysis. Companies should start by prioritizing the challenges they want to tackle, and then build an appropriate data strategy around those objectives.

3. Great Technology Cannot Solve Poor Talent

Data driven thinking needs to permeate a business, impacting employees throughout the organization. Businesses need an effective strategy for attracting effective data scientists and communicating insights throughout organization. Not all companies can find or afford top data scientists but this does not leave them outside the net. A variety of industries are developing external talent pools that can serve organizations needing big data insights.

4. Improving Customer Communication and Engagement