Is data really that important?

Well, you would have thought that by now, it was pretty clear that we are well past the stage when business owners and leaders should be wondering if they have to worry about data. The real question is, can they afford not to? Data is already transforming pretty much every industry, with those businesses who aren’t on board or fail to appreciate the need to maximise the use of their data, running a huge and live risk in getting left behind - indeed, they may well be lucky to even have a business in 3 to 5 years.

There are three core areas where data really matters to business: 

• Making better decisions and quicker
• Improving business performance
• Generating revenues

Firstly, data enables companies to collect better market and customer intelligence. With the ever-increasing amount of data available, companies are gaining much better insights into what customers want, what they use (and how), how they purchase goods, and what they think of those goods and services. And this information can be used to make better decisions across all areas of the business, everything from helping form a companies overarching strategy, risk analysis, product and service development, production, sales and marketing through to distribution and aftercare.

Secondly, data should be helping companies gain efficiencies and improve their operations. From tracking machine performance (much of the manufacturing equipment purchased over the last 25 years already have in built sensors within them - unfortunately, many organisations are still not using the data from these assets to drive equipment, quality and maintenance performance), to optimising delivery routes to even recruiting the very best talent. Using and understanding, good quality data, contextualised in real-time, can improve internal efficiency, productivity and operations for almost any type of business and across many different departments. Companies have even started using sensors to track employee movements, their stress, health, and even who they converse with and the tone of voice they use. They are then using this data to improve employee satisfaction and productivity.

The IoT plays a huge role in improving operational performance. A big part of the IoT isn’t so much about smart devices, but more about sensors. These tiny pieces of technology can be attached to everything from paper cups to the tarmac in roads and then record and send data back into the server. This allows businesses to collect more and more specific feedback on how products or equipment are used, their performance, when they break (or about to break), and even what users might want in the future. 

Third, data also provides the opportunity for companies to build data into their product offering – thereby monetising the data itself. 

Some key data challenges are still commonplace in most organisations, such as:

• Poor quality of data 
• Lack of REAL-TIME data  
• Too much data, much of which is not fit for purpose 
• Team members do not understand HOW to use data
• A lack of transparency and accountability regards the data

Regardless of the size of the company or the industry in which it operates, the key to getting the most out of data is having a clear, robust strategy that relates data to the business’s long-term goals and objectives. A key to implementing this strategy, is then having a clear roadmap and approach to address change re: the companies technology, processes and people simultaneously.

As a starting point, companies should at least be looking to have:

The right information, at the right time, in the right place, with the right technology, for the right people, with the right skills to enable them to make smart decisions.

with the rights skills,

to enable smart decisions