It's been five years since we first heard that 'Data is the new oil', in those five years the tools available to us to collect, sift, analyse and share that data have exploded in number.
In business we are constantly looking for efficiency in order to make our service more cost-effective, to increase our value to our customers and to build sustainable, solid organisations that will stand the test of time. So how do we find the gold in our data that helps us take that next step?
One story comes from a national motor breakdown recovery service. If you have hundreds of engineers in vans attending customer breakdowns, you want to have the best chance of fixing their problem while you are at the roadside. To do that you need the right parts on the van, but your space is limited.
So, naturally, you collect information about the type of issues you are finding. You can then rank them by frequency, and then (for example) you might find the most common problem is with a water pump on a Ford Focus. Stands to reason, since they are a very popular car. So, you make sure each van has at least one spare at all times. This is a good use of data, which can be collected and exploited for that primary purpose.
But, imagine Ford are looking at the next Ford Focus model. What should they look to improve? They have a certain amount of data from their franchise dealerships and warranty claims. However, the information you hold could save them millions in research and development. In this case a deal was done to provide that data and the breakdown provider suddenly had a revenue stream that they hadn't expected.
They could do this because they'd invested in technology that collected their key data, allowed them to analyse and inspect it, and integrate with other systems. They had understood their own business information well enough to improve their own process, but also identify related data sets in other companies that might also realise value from it.
Organisations of all sizes are being disrupted by new and established players that know the value of their data. Look after it, and it will look after you!
About the author
Chris Weston is Associate Director of Amdaris, a rapidly expanding multinational Software Development Company with offices in the UK, Romania and Moldova. Amdaris create software products for people that want to exploit the power of their data. Get in touch with Amdaris by calling (0) 117 935 3444.
- Log in to post comments