This is the era of “wanting to be engaged and needing to be informed”. We hear a lot about digital transformation these days and the groundbreaking technologies that will lead to these transformations.
Big data and analytics are topics firmly embedded as the amount of data we’re now generating through these is astonishing. Cisco predicts that annual global IP traffic will reachh 3.3 ZB per year by 2021 and that the number of devices connected to IP networks will be more than three times the global population by 2021. Companies like Disney and Amazon have embraced the power of analytics to understand their customer activities and create packages that their customers cannot refuse.
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How companies are using Big Data and Analytics
“Companies have reached to a point of transition in which, instead of talking about the results that could be achieved with Big Data, they are beginning to see the real benefits in it”, “Companies are beginning to see that Big Data is a keystone of digital transformation”.
Narendra Mulani, senior managing director at Accenture Global Analytics.
Decision-Making
Data is an enabler of future strategies and immediate change, thanks to the power of predictive analytics and advanced data science. Correctly harnessing data can help to achieve better, fact-based decision-making and improve the overall customer experience. By using new big data technologies, organisations can answer questions in seconds rather than taking days or months. This acceleration allows businesses to enable the type of quick reactions to key business questions and challenges that can build competitive advantage and improve performance, and provide answers for complex problems or questions that have resisted analysis.
Better Business
Big data and analytics are becoming closely intertwined and need to work together to deliver the promised results of big data. Traditionally, data management and analytics have resided in different parts of the organisation. Breaking down organisational boundaries and creating better integration between the IT and business departments is a critical step on the road to successful transformation.
There is also a widespread realisation of the need for better business analytics. These are the skills, technologies, practices for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning. The key is integrating big data with traditional business analytics to create a data ecosystem that allows the business to generate new insights while executing on what it already knows.
Customer Service
In addition, the data a company collects can be analysed for insights that help the company personalise its interactions with customers and enhance their customer service. Data can be used to find trends around a customer’s habits, which is typically indicative of their future interests. Furthermore, data collected from customers can be used for sentiment comparison, which shows the company how well or poorly products and experiences are being received. With this information, businesses can more closely target and anticipate their customers’ needs, making the necessary adjustments to improve their offerings and better engage their targeted audience members.
Operational Efficiency
The categorisation and analysis of data is also a critical part of a business’ operational efficiency. Along with optimizing customer experiences and engagement, improving efficiency is viewed as a key driver of digital transformation, with just about half of the progress survey respondents indicating that it is important, if not critical. More than half states that they need to improve business agility to achieve their business priorities. Fast and effective data connectivity is a necessary tool for these businesses looking to digitally transform as it can enable them to utilize the astounding wealth of data that today’s businesses collect in a meaningful way.
According to Accenture, in Spain the most innovative companies use Big Data and Data Analytics to discover new business (94% average), increase retention rates and customer acquisition (86%), and developing new products and services (82%). All this provides them with tangible results, especially in the discovery of new business, in the development of products and services, in the acquisition and customer retention and in improving customer experience.
Without recognising the benefits of integrated data sources and the business agility they provide, businesses cannot hope to move forward, improve customer experiences and achieve operational efficiency in today’s digital economy. As a recent report from Forbes Insights shows, it’s proven that when properly applied, data analytics can drive growth and have a significant and positive impact on revenues. A successful digital transformation relies on these analytics; without them, businesses risk financial and competitive consequences. It’s time for businesses to get serious about digital transformation to optimise their existing processes and stay ahead of the competition.