There is no denying the sheer amount of data at our disposal. And thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), data is increasing by the minute. However, for those of us that work with data or need to understand the influence this data has on businesses/clients or markets, we are now faced with the task of sorting through this mass of information from various interconnected devices.
Those who rate IoT as a fad, should consider the transformational impact this is likely to have on business, specifically on the data centre side. Take for example the amount of data that these interconnected devices are producing (and will continue to produce). Surely this alone offers organisations an opportunity to analyse the data and use this information to gain a much stronger competitive advance in an increasingly saturated business market?
In fact, Gartner estimates that 6.4 billion connected ‘things’ will be in use worldwide this year, which is a 30% increase from 2015 alone – indicating that the IoT phenomenon is not going away. As a result, decisions around how best to process the associated data from these various devices, should be an organisational priority in 2016.
Along with this, analysing the data is key – and a practical way businesses can go about doing this is turning to advanced analytics. In fact, companies can apply advanced analytics to their entire data realm, to ensure that they can leverage off the information and integrate it within various areas of their business.
In other words, advanced analytics can be used to turn data coming from various business areas; including the IoT, sales, marketing, call centre feedback, transactional data and even social media, into something more powerful. Can you imagine the impact if a business could not only manage the data within, but also analyse it correctly, to make business decisions that are accurate, add value to customers, improve the bottom line and in return increase profit margins? This is what will give a business a new and substantial competitive edge – and this is why IoT is no fad.
Advanced analytics can actually generate predictive information for a business. This means that an organisation can now gain insight into future outcomes using advanced analytics. And it is this that allows advanced analytics to assist a business in becoming more customer focused, as the data being analysed can tell a business more about their customer’s needs, wants and expectations. Having this information at their fingertips means businesses can effectively satisfy a customer’s needs instantly.
So, as organisation’s start to make sense of 2016 and the challenges and opportunities the year is likely to bring, remember that the IoT and data is starting to play a very important role in the success of companies globally (if utilised correctly).
Don’t discount the impact these so called technology terms will have on your own business. Additionally, be careful of thinking that if you have implemented some form of big data, you will solve your data problem – as this in isolation offers very little value. Analysing the data correctly through aspects such as advanced analytics, is what will help determine how you can create or capitalise on opportunities in this digital marketplace in 2016.
Armandè Kruger, Regional Sales Director for PBT Group
