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Why You Need Big Data

No matter where you go and what you do you can’t escape data. Whether you’re putting together a business report or working on a college assignment, data forms the basic, most essential unit of any endeavour. Given the sheer volumes of data that are generated, communicated and exchanged across industries it was only a matter of time before a phrase like ‘Big Data’ cropped up in the international industry lexicon. And here we are.

Before we get into http://www.loginworks.com/our-services/big-data/ what Big Data can do</a></strong> for your business, let us take a quick look at what it is and how it is understood. Simply put, the phrase refers to any data sets, which owing to their vastness and intricacy cannot be collected, perused, communicated, understood and expressed using traditional data management tools. In the business and industry niche we understand Big Data as data that can be analysed to identify, isolate and optimise patterns and practices in business. In short, we’re looking at a lot of information that can tell you everything you need to know about your business.

But, how do you understand the information and gauge the worth of what it is telling you? With a practically unlimited amount of information how do you begin combing through it all? To be able to best leverage the potential of http://www.loginworks.com/our-services/big-data/ Big Data to boost your business you will need dedicated software that is specifically designed to concurrently manage large numbers of data sets on multiple servers. It stands to reason that every industry niche has its own kind of data and its own business patterns and how these might be optimised may differ from case to case but on the whole Big Data can be instrumental in shaping any kind of commercial enterprise for greater success. Read on to find out why you need to get in on the Big Data bandwagon today!

#1 Identify Risks Early On

Using Big Data installs an early warning system of sorts into your business organisation, which means you can always be prepared to meet any challenges that may come your way and you can even prevent them from manifesting. Risk assessment and SWOT Analysis are some of the most crucial aspects of business in this day and age. If there is one thing successful people across industries swear by, it is the value of knowing who to do business with and whom to avoid. With Big Data on your side you can quickly and accurately profile potential clients, customers, partners, suppliers and vendors to determine the risk level posed by each one of them to your organisation. Incorrect profiling can lead to risks in terms of lost opportunities (if you wrongly label someone as a high risk) and disastrous losses (if someone is erroneously assessed as a low risk when in actuality they’re somebody you should certainly not do business with).

#2 Get To Know Your Customers

Regardless of the industry you are in, customers are the heart of every business. Getting to know your customers is both a duty and an undeniable asset. When you know your customers you know what they want. This means you can deliver on their expectations and by doing so, continue to grow and prosper as a business. Gone are the days of long-drawn surveys and focus groups or hiring expensive researchers only to get information about a tiny, sample population. These outdated methods of understanding customers also posed another major disadvantage: they involved waiting for weeks and months by which time the data collected would sometimes become irrelevant. With Big Data you have as much information as you need about all your customers and clients- all in real time, as it is generated and pertinent.

Through information profiles on clients and customers and by monitoring social media activity you can keep up with your clients’ wishes, reactions, problems, grievances and expectations. You can statistically map out and measure how your clients feel about your products and services and how they perceive your brand. You can study different demographic sections, observe how purchasing patterns change with geography and determine the forces behind each individual market.

#3 Save Money

Any businessperson worth their two cents will always be looking for a way to save them! In the most basic of terms, good business sense dictates any money saved is money earned. A cross-sectional analysis of your company will reveal its strengths and weaknesses, which will give you an insight into what needs to be changed, what needs to be done away with and what you need more of. By identifying ‘good’ departments/ teams/ processes you can pick up best practices and introduce them across the rest of the organisation. Similarly, mistakes can be isolated and addressed. By quickly acting on lessons learned you save money that could be lost through missed opportunities, mistakes and poor decisions and recovery/ repair expenses.

#4 Cull Out Competition

You know how they say, ‘keep your friends close, your enemies closer’? It stands to reason that if knowledge is power and information about your clients and customers is valuable to your organisation then the same holds true about your competition as well. Since you are all competing on the same playing field the tactics that work for you will work for your competitors as well. However, with the Big Data card up your sleeve you can learn about and implement those tactics sooner to get a head start. Monitoring your competition will also keep you in the loop vis-à-vis their strategies. This means that every time your competition decides to try something new or change direction, you can adjust and adapt instantly. In the past, a sudden shift from the competitors could have left you blindsided and in the time it took the organisation to recover and get back on track you would have found yourself out of the running altogether.

In a nutshell, Big Data is your key to becoming an all-knowing, all-seeing business organisation. In a competitive industry, knowledge is power and with Big Data you can find comfort (and success) in the realisation that you can tap into virtually limitless pools of knowledge to be able to adapt, improve and empower your organisation like never before. From tweaking your services to creating winning advertising campaigns that guarantee the precise response you’re looking for, there is no end to the ways in which you can put this newfound knowledge to good use.

The opportunity to improve and upgrade constantly and meet each need of your customers as and when it develops gives you a hitherto impossible chance to please your customers and clients. What you’re giving them now is a customer service that’s almost dream-like: by the time they realise they want something you will already have it ready and waiting for them!

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