Big Data is Yesterday’s News.

'Big Data' is already here.  Over the past few years, businesses have been able to put in place massive ERP systems, storage devices and data warehouses.  In the process they have spend billions of dollars.  On top of this, they have spent extra millions by putting in place ‘Business Intelligence’ systems to tell Managers what has happened in the past.  So today, a Manager can see exactly which Customer has spent how much, on what date, at which store and on what Product.  Essentially Business Reporting.

Which brings us to the next stage in the information continuum – now that we have all this data and know what has happened, what do we do next?  How can we leverage this data to influence consumer behavior, to manage growth, to predict the future, to optimize strategy, to take actions in almost real-time, etc in a forward-looking fashion.

In effect, to go from the ‘what’ to the ‘who-why-when-where’.  And in the process become smarter about business decisioning.

“Real-time Customer-level Decisioning” will become increasingly important.  Real-time because you want to act on fresh information in the most expedient manner;  lest your competition take advantage.  And Customer-level because each Consumer in unique and wants to be treated uniquely.  Technologies exist today that can deliver on the promise of both.  We have algorithmic trading where actions are taken in milliseconds.  And we have predictive analytics that can deliver on customer-level decisions.

Unfortunately, most typical businesses are not there yet.    For Consumer-focused companies, “Analytical CRM” is the next phase in the evolution of big data, and will be increasingly leveraged by them to manage their competitive positioning.  The “Information” in the IT revolution will then become a reality. 

Analytical CRM can help a business increase revenues by helping design the right products; by identifying those customers most likely to buy a particular product/service, and getting their product to them before the competition acts; by increasing Customers engagement with their Brand by having them buy more of that Product or by cross-selling their other products.  It can also help them optimize expenses by managing advertisement, marketing and operational expenses in the most efficient manner.

Big data is yesterday’s news.  Now let’s leverage this data for business optimization.