Data analytics is transforming the way businesses operate. It is being used in all manner of ways – for example, to reduce costs, increase sales, improve security, and enhance the customer experience.
Let’s dive in and find out more.
The role of data analytics in modern business
Data is king in today’s digital age. Indeed, it can sometimes feel as though our every interaction becomes a potential data point somewhere!
It’s likely you’ve noticed the increasing role of data in your own business. Perhaps you’ve taken advantage of the proliferation of helpful ways to visualize Big Data – charts and images that make complex statistical matters (often on a vast scale) easier to comprehend.
And that’s key. Data analytics is about collecting data and then, crucially, presenting or leveraging it in a useful way to create actionable insights. Making data usable, in other words.
Just as you might use net worth tracking as an indicator of your individual financial health, so you can deploy data analytics on an enterprise level to diagnose issues that need attention. It can provide up-to-the-minute information about your business performance or customer behavior, and alert you if problems arise.
First, it gives you an evidence base on which to base your decisions. This could mean anything from what subject heading to give your marketing emails to larger strategic decisions such as how best to shape your data governance security protocols.
What’s more, data analytics is starting to offer more than providing insight alone. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are the driving force here. Predictive and generative AI now allows businesses to initiate automated actions based on analytics.
Data analytics and statistics can be leveraged by pretty much any business, in different ways. That might include optimizing small business marketing efforts, managing customer relationships, and monitoring infrastructure.
Getting started can be daunting and a bit of expertise certainly helps. Fortunately, it needn’t get that complicated. A whole range of B2B software solutions can help leverage data in your operations. These include applications that allow you to build a reporting tool for clients (e.g., to assess the impact of ad campaigns), tools managing the performance of customer-facing agents, and much more.
Whether it’s for making decisions about marketing, communications, HR, product usage, or customer relationships, data analytics can provide valuable metrics to inform your thinking. Maybe you’re wondering whether it’s worth investing in a further website domain (via a service such as Only Domains). If so, it needn’t be difficult to monitor traffic on your website to help you understand how best to proceed.
As your business grows, you can get bolder. Before long you may be looking for a more sophisticated, bespoke solution and find yourself asking questions like ‘what is ETL data pipeline, and do we need one?’ In other words, when you start seeing the results your business can achieve when you incorporate data analytics and statistics into your strategy, you’ll be eager to take the next step.
Data helps keep your business nimble
While you may understandably feel confident in your business instincts that have developed over the years, it’s important to consider the undeniable significance of the impact of data analytics on your organization. The landscape of modern business has evolved to heavily rely on data-driven insights for informed decision-making. This could provide your organization with a competitive edge and contribute to more accurate strategic planning.
Your instincts can help you make sense of the data. Likewise, the data can help keep your knowledge and instincts up to date and in tune with changing contexts.
Data analytics can provide a healthy check on the dangers of becoming complacent – in all areas of your business, from marketing to HR. Some of the insights it can yield might challenge assumptions – and prompt you to make much-needed adjustments.
Statistics that might surprise you
To illustrate the vast potential of data analytics – much of it as yet untapped – here are a few statistics that might surprise you.
1. The amount of data each individual creates is growing
As the digital transformation unfolds, more and more data is being produced – much of it of value to businesses. One estimate is that 463 ZBs (zettabytes) of data will be created every day by 2025.
It’s an unimaginable amount. As more and more people around the world are connecting to the internet, they’re doing so with a whole range of devices. We’re not just talking about computers and phones – the IoT means watches, fridges, cars, and a vast array of other items are coming into play.
All of which means a vast amount of potential data for analysis going forwards. We are only at the start of the Big Data age. Have you considered what this means for your business?
2. A huge amount of enterprise data goes unused
One report in 2020 estimated that over two-thirds of data available to enterprises is unused: only 32% of enterprise data was put to work. It suggested a number of barriers to leveraging more than that, including complexities in storing, securing, processing, and presenting data.
Bearing in mind the amount of data being produced and collected is also growing at a great pace, we again get a sense of the great untapped potential for data analytics. Enterprises that can overcome the barriers noted above are better placed to exploit that potential. What can you do in your business to address these barriers?
3. Effective data analytics really can improve business outcomes
A 2022 report found that organizations that have a mature data-analytics approach enjoy business outcomes that are 2.5 times better across the board than those that haven’t yet got up to speed. Which organizations would be more agile in responding to changing conditions in the competitive landscape?
The same report revealed that companies with well-developed data analytics enjoyed better customer satisfaction scores. Moreover, whereas only 12% of those companies missed their adoption and usage KPI targets, that rose to a third for lagging organizations. How might data analytics make your organization leaner and more competitive?
4. Business leaders see data analytics as key for the future
Finally, if you’re not already using data analytics much, you might be surprised to learn just how much priority your peers are giving it.
Even small businesses are busy looking for ways to leverage recent technological developments. A recent IBM study found that three-quarters of CEO respondents believe that competitive advantage going forwards depends on having the most advanced generative AI (which, in turn, relies on a mature approach to data and analytics).
An effective approach to data, analytics, and the AI innovations that depend on them are increasingly deemed essential for future competitiveness.
Is data high enough on your agenda?
In the coming years, more and more data will be available to enterprises. But not all businesses will make good use of its potential. Performance here is already uneven – and is likely to continue to diverge as strategic deployment of data becomes key to an enterprise’s competitive edge.
The most successful businesses of the future will be those leveraging it most effectively. Is data high enough on your business’s agenda?
