Big Data!.. Big Deal?

Today people love the use of buzz words or labelling to make things stand out and appear to be the most relevant thing in that field at that time.  This is all well and good but it's not the full story.

We are increasingly hearing about “Big Data” and its importance in understanding our customers.  Do you find you are amassing quantities of  “Big Data” and still not finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, i.e. knowledge about your customers.

What is often not considered is the skills of the people using that data and how valuable the data is to your company.  Just because someone has 1,000 feeds of data from various sources that doesn't guarantee that they are receiving the information they need to drive their business forward. Even if they are receiving valuable information, are they deciphering it and using it correctly and effectively?

  

What is key is the insight into your data, you need people to be able to sift out the relevant nuggets of information that you can use to enhance your offering.  Yes, the more data you have means the more potential you have to use it but that is not the defining factor. It’s all about what you can extrapolate from the data whether it’s 10 feeds or 10,000 feeds and how you utilise that information.     

Jason Williams

Jason is Data Project Manager at the Purple Agency and is the voice of DATA360 – Purple’s online data management service.  He eats, sleeps and breathes Data.  Outside of work Jason is a parent governor at his youngest sons school and is an active volunteer for a local football charity helping children from all backgrounds.