Big Data brings Bigger Challenges and Even Better Solutions

Big Data. This buzz phrase is either causing you pain already or you haven’t been affected (yet). Organisations of all sizes need to prepare themselves for the inevitable: manage big data effectively now, or be consumed by it sooner than you think.

Businesses might assume that they won’t be affected and can carry on with their current methods of analysing their data retrospectively, collating reports and putting plans in place to respond to the market… at some point. Wrong! Data is being generated all around us, all the time, with no end in sight.

‘Big Data’ is the culmination of an organisation’s transactional data (inventory, sales, finances etc), along with social media data, mobile data and any other industry-centric inbound data – this combination becomes larger than the traditional enterprise storage tools can handle – and it keeps growing.

Source: Visually

What does this all mean?

Data generates knowledge, knowledge is power. Big Data is driving competition, innovation and profit across all sectors. By gathering, understanding and then predicting your customer’s behaviours you can gain control of your organisation’s future.

What does this mean for my customers?

They are more engaged – or you have the potential to become more engaged with them if you have the right tools and strategy

They are more accessible than ever before and you can reach out to them in numerous ways

Responsive

They expect information, responses and services quicker and are more demanding in their requests because they know they can easily find a more suitable alternative

How can my organisation keep up?

Leveraging a robust analytics platform to keep up with and stay ahead of the trend – even if right now you don’t think you are affected by big data issues.

An analytics platform helps your organisation to:

• Access market leading business intelligence data in real time using ‘in-memory’ technology

• Effectively store, manage and access all inbound data streams affecting your business

• Understand customer behaviour and trends better and respond accordingly (before your competitor does)

• Grow with the evolution of data

• Comply with government, industry and risk requirements

• Equip your sales teams with full visibility so they can react quickly to market demands

• Enable your operations team to perform preventative (instead of reactive) activities

• Enrich your customer’s journey and experience with your company (never underestimate this in a fickle marketplace)

Big Data is a fact of life for all businesses in the 21st century. Having a strategy and the appropriate tools to deal with it in a proactive will help businesses proceed with confidence into the future.

Top Image Credit: Photo by Pietro Jeng on Unsplash

A version of this post has been published by me in this blog