Big Data's most significant prospects revolve around brokerage and digital information exchange.
In today's digital age, the collision of big data and machine learning is opening up a world of opportunities for businesses. This assertion was made by Ian West, the UK Head of Enterprise Information Management at Cognizant. The increased potential to predict customer behaviour and act accordingly is leading to a growing demand among businesses to harness data and make the most of the opportunities it offers.
This demand has given rise to the concept of Information-as-a-Service, where businesses aim to build a clear picture of their customers, including their preferences and behaviours. The ultimate goal is to foster brand loyalty, a concept known as 'Code Halos'. To achieve this, businesses need to access pools of information to underpin their digital transformations.
One company that has successfully leveraged this approach is British Gas with its Hive service. By understanding customers' behavioural patterns, British Gas can provide customized offers based on these insights.
The majority of people already have a social media presence, and the challenge lies in using this information to truly understand customers and predict their preferences based on previous purchasing decisions and behaviour in certain scenarios. Gathering data from various sources outside their own business, such as data for purchase, open source data, or personal data from social media accounts, is becoming increasingly important. This practice is known as insight brokerage.
The future of big data is not just about machine learning; businesses will need to embrace a fully information-enabled digital strategy to compete in the market. Apart from machine learning, Ian West identified three specific areas in 2016 as offering the biggest opportunities for businesses to make the most of data: Information Management, Business Intelligence (BI) and Reporting, and Data Quality and Governance.
These areas provide foundational capabilities that businesses can leverage to better organize, analyse, and trust their data, thus maximizing its value beyond just applying machine learning techniques. With the advent of embedded technology and real-time analytics, businesses can now influence customers with hyper-personalized offers based on point of acquisition behaviour, time of day, weather conditions, and other real-time metrics.
The second area of interest is digital information, which involves listening to what customers are saying across multiple sources and adapting to what is important to them in real-time using technological advances. The Internet of Things (IoT) is particularly valuable for organisations that can embed sensors into their client interactions, such as utilities and energy companies.
According to Gartner, the future will be machine learning. By harnessing the right data quickly from multiple sources and having the answers ready in seconds, businesses can address pressing business challenges. The ability to secure real monetary value from data, known as data economics, is a key piece of a digital information strategy.
In conclusion, the future of businesses lies in their ability to harness the power of data and transform it into actionable insights. By embracing a fully information-enabled digital strategy, businesses can predict customer behaviour, provide personalized offers, and ultimately foster brand loyalty.
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