Big Data is often hyped as the Next Big Thing, with fans claiming outlandish benefits for firms willing to use it. Yet, in many cases, companies enter into the world of Big Data without a coherent plan of what they want to achieve, and accordingly make some costly mistakes.
One of the problems is that the geeks who work with Big Data generally do not understand the cut-and-thrust of the business world, where pragmatism is often a huge virtue. Conversely, many smart, successful business people have no idea how data analytics works. This communication problem often means that clients and companies end up talking in woolly generalities, about business transformation or some equally vague term, and missing out on the advantages of Big Data.
Some of these problems can be avoided, however, by the implementation of a few basic steps. Let’s look at some.
1. Be Willing to Experiment
If you are thinking about adding a Big Data component to your business, it can be helpful to see this as a process of experimentation. This means two things. First, you should not pin all your hopes for the future on data analytics. Second, be open-minded about the possibilities of Big Data what you think you want to achieve might not be possible, but working with and experimenting with data could throw up some opportunities you had not thought of.
2. Look At What’s Been Done
When you first encounter data analytics, it can seem a huge and confusing field. One thing to bear in mind is that, especially if you are in a mainstream industry, it’s likely that quite a lot of what you want to achieve has already been done. Talk to colleagues in your field, and you may find that they are willing to share processes. Even if they charge a fee for this consultation, we guarantee it will be less than the cost of trying to re-invent the wheel.
3. Integrate Analytics Into Your Processes
Whilst using Big Data has many advantages, this should not be a process which you complete as a one-off exercise. Firms who use data analytics effectively are those that integrate opportunities for data capture into as many processes as possible.
This is especially important if your company has many employees. Giving them the chance to collect data, no matter where they work in your company, is a great way of quickly generating vast amounts of usable data. And if your employees then see efficiency increasing as a result of the data they are contributing, they will likely be more motivated to help collect data.
4. Look at Where Your Data Is
It is likely that you are already collecting a lot of data on your processes, but that it is stored in formats that are difficult to analyze. Completing a thorough review of what data you are already collecting, where this is stored, and in what format, is often a great first step towards using Big Data. Before spending thousands of dollars on data consultants, work out what you can do in-house first.