Big Data = Big Confusion

Looking back at the industry conferences we've attended over the past year, there are two (2) common themes that stand out:

1. Everyone loves to use the phrase ‘Big Data’
2. No one really knows what ‘Big Data’ mean

Wikipedia describes ‘Big Data’ as “a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications.” However, there is some good news around the concept of big data. After attending over fifty (50) breakout sessions that had ‘Big Data’ in the title and working with a variety of clients around the concept, here is the simplified approach to effectively utilizing big data to drive results.

1. Ask yourself the following key questions:

• How can I utilize ‘Big Data’ to achieve my goals?
• How will we utilize the data to drive results?
• What questions are we trying to answer?
• What does success look like?

2. Decide what resources/information you can exploit to achieve your goals:

• In-store data
• Online Customer data
• Customer and employee loyalty data
• Syndicated data
• Financial reports
• Social media data

3. Understand how you will interpret the data:

• Who will have access to the data?
• How can we make the data easy to interpret for all audiences?
• How will we communicate results?
• How will we turn data/analysis into results?

Success can be achieved through ‘Big Data’ if you can answer these questions and formulate a game plan to achieve victory at the onset. Remember, “The Beginning Determines the End,” so identify what success looks like and work backwards to identify your solution.