So I have to take a stand against the word big data; the word itself is confusing, inordinate and simply frightening to most people. Companies are investing against the word – because everyone else is -without knowing the actionable outcome, desired results or proactive solution.
In my book Wake up or die I coined a new word “Opportunity Data”, let me tell you why?
Every day we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data and 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. Think about what our future will look like – “analysis paralysis” meaning too much data at your disposal is more problematic than no data at all.
Big data has to lead to an opportunity
• to find insights in new and emerging types of data and content
• to make your business more agile
• to answer questions that were previously considered beyond your reach
Big data is more than a matter of size and volume; its more than having the right technology capabilities to manage it. It’s knowing how to make it actionable, immediate and transformative within your company.
A great example on how using Customer “opportunity “Data to can drive revenue in its simplest way is what Orbitz is doing. Orbitz, one of the world’s leading online travel retailers, by analyzing their customer data they discovered that Mac users are around 40% more likely to book 4 star and 5 star hotels than PC users.
With this insightful data Orbitz is leading their customers to what they ultimately want. Targeting Mac users with higher end hotel bookings instantly. They are acting as a guiding light to lead them to what huge amounts of data has indicated they want. Their conversion rate of browsers to bookers increased tenfold when this was implemented. Now that’s an opportunity worth discovering.
Consider how the New York Police Department is using Big Data to fight crime in Manhattan. The NYPD and other big city police departments are using data-crunching technology to geo-locate and analyze “historical arrest patterns,” while cross-tabbing them with sporting events, paydays, rainfall, traffic flows, and Federal holidays to identify what NYPD calls likely crime “hot spots.” Such insight can help deploy officers to locations where crimes are likely to occur before they are actually committed.
Predicting the future is more valuable than understanding the past… think opportunity data.
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Learn more about GSA Speaker Corrine Sandler.
