Editor’s Note: In today’s Thursday Feature, we are going to look at big data, what it is, how you can use it, and how you can prevent it from overwhelming your business with too much information.
Today’s businesses can use big data — massive pools of data that can be collected from multiple and diverse sources, often in real-time — to make decisions on how to improve operations, enhance marketing, build new sales, and other goals.
But big data is only as valuable as the questions that you ask of it. So if you aren’t asking the right questions of big data, you could be just spinning your wheels.
How Data Analysis Has Changed
Up until recently, data analysis has been an after-the-fact process for business decisions. For example, it was only possible to analyze the effectiveness of a marketing campaign after it had already concluded.
Similarly, financial analysis also was something that was typically done at the end of the week, the end of a quarter, or at the end of the fiscal year. In other words, regardless of what was being analyzed, the analysis almost always came too late for the feedback it generated to change anything in the present.
Instead, the analysis became the basis for “lessons learned” that could only be applied to future marketing campaigns, next quarter’s financial planning, or the next business objective.
The ability to see “right now” is one of any business’s most valuable tools. One of the things big data does is allow you to change course as needed to modify outcomes in the present, not sometime down the road.
Too Much Information?
Unfortunately, the presence of so much data that is available today can often lead to “data paralysis”. When this occurs, decision makers can often become confused about which data to use and what to measure.
To change this unworkable dynamic, organizations need to identify those questions they need to be answered most, rather than developing them based on what current data is available now or could be available in the future. They need to think in terms of what they need to know “right now” to move the business forward in the current moment.
At least for the time being, they need to forget about the tools and data and pay attention only to which insights provide the most value.
Overcoming Data Paralysis
If your business is using big data and you find yourself paralyzed by the vast amount of data at your disposal, here are some helpful tools you can use to break free from data paralysis:
- Size Doesn’t Matter (Much) — You can and should use data from different sources to get the best results. The good news is that data is everywhere and much of it is free. So you probably will have more than enough data available to you at any given moment regardless of how much (or how little) of this data actually belongs to you.
- Use the Data Analysts You Already Have — In today’s business environment, big data is changing everything in practically every industry. It’s better to just get started using the data analysts you already have rather than wait until you can find, hire and train a “dream team”. Your people are already familiar with your business. All they may require is a little on the job training on how to use the best big data tools. Hiring a new team may improve your company’s skill level, but it could take them months to learn the ins and outs of your business.
- Learn as You Go — You don’t have to wait until you understand everything about big data. The truth is you probably never will. There isn’t time for you to learn it all, anyway. Instead begin with smaller projects and learn as you go. If your data analysts do one project after another, they can progress steadily ahead and be able to handle increasingly complex projects.
- Don’t Worry (Too Much) about Upfront Costs — It’s more costly not to use big data at all. Today, digital storage doesn’t cost anything and the cost of analytics is rapidly dropping. Your business probably already stores and uses data. And these costs are likely higher than the cost of new big data alternatives. Your focus shouldn’t be cost and return on investment. It should be gaining competitive advantages. Ask yourself: What would be the cost to your business if you suddenly realize you can no longer compete?
- Don’t Worry that Your People Won’t Be Able to Use Big Data — Spoiler Alert: Everybody already uses big data all the time. Anytime they log on to sites like Google Earth, Yelp, Expedia, Kayak and others they are using big data. These apps provide results based on big data analytics. So don’t worry about big data analytics being a totally foreign concept to your team. Most of your workers will be able to use these tools with no problem.
- Evolution before Revolution –– To get better outputs, add more inputs to the algorithms you already use. In other words, before you join the big data revolution and start making big changes in your business, improve the data analysis your business is already doing. Evolve these into something bigger, better and stronger first.
- Face the Music — Change — most of it big-data driven — is coming whether you like it or not. Yu can either embrace this change or get run over by it. In either case, you won’t be able to avoid it.