How Big Data Plays a Role in Digital Transformation

Big data has changed small and large businesses for the better, as more companies begin to embrace digital transformation. Gone are the days of small focus groups and generic demographics, now businesses can harness specific information about their staff and customers to ensure their marketing is targeting the right audience in the right way.

The terms “big data” and “digital transformation” may seem scary to some businesses - considering the cyber threats involved - however, with easier access to big data and newer technologies, they don’t have to be. In this blog, we’ll explore how big data plays a role in digital transformation and how it can benefit your business model.

Digital Transformation and Big Data

Digital transformation represents a huge cultural shift for a business to remain competitive across the globe. With more companies going digital, you can’t be left behind in the past, weighed down by legacy systems that won’t benefit the business. However, making that change also means introducing big data into your business processes.

Big data gives companies the information they need to make vital strategic decisions that minimise business costs and maximise results. If you’ve got information on consumers and employees, you can create projections that predict what they’ll do in the future, allowing you to implement changes to address their needs and your business goals.

In simple terms, no digital transformation is ever completed without the adoption of big data.

Big Data for Bigger Business

The power of predictive analytics combined with advanced data science can help to enable future strategies and usher in immediate changes. By being able to make decisions based on facts, customer experience will dramatically improve. This is in contrast to before when a question was asked of a business, it could take days or months, but with big data, this can be cut down to seconds.

To fulfil the promised results by big data, there’s a need for big data, analytics, and data platforms to closely work together. Typically, data management and analytics are in different departments within a business and that is why with your digital transformation, it’s vital that boundaries are broken to allow IT and business departments to work together.

Business Analytics

This also means that businesses realise there’s a need for improved Business Analytics. This includes the skills, technologies and practices needed for a continuous investigation into past business performances to drive future planning. By integrating machine-learning big data with traditional business analytics, you can create a powerful data ecosystem that can show new insights while continuing with what it already knows.

Finding Goals

Big data is all about completing goals, but identifying those goals can be difficult to begin with. You might research the selection of data that other companies use in their digital strategy, however, they may not benefit your business. It’s up to you to look at your unique business and its needs, looking strategically at short and long-term goals.

You must find the biggest challenges your business is facing in the marketplace right now. By having that list of goals, you can break down the big data you need into the insights that can drive success. Start small and avoid non-specific goals including “maximising the bottom line” that will offer no value. You must find challenges that meet objectives to:

• Improve customer experience
• Improve employee productivity
• Identify customer pain points to target
• Retain customers
• Reduce costs

Get The Right Data Sets

Useful data can be found both in-house and out there in the marketplace. CRM and ERP tools are great at offering vital insights into your customers and your staff, and simply structuring the report can help you use that data. Social media management tools and other online tools including Google Analytics are excellent at understanding consumer behaviour and their interactions with brands. Remember, your current goal will determine the data set you need.

Once you identify the metric that influences your approach to the goal, use it. As you aim to reach your goal, more questions will come up that require even more data sets to provide the information required to make educated decisions. There’s no need to guess or use logic because the tools will ensure you make the right call.

To reap the benefits of big data as part of your digital transformation, you must work with a provider that will ensure you have the digital technology you need and in a safe environment. Nasstar’s team of professional service experts allow you to continue your digital transformation across the entire business and see a quick ROI as your business grows from more informed decisions.

Get in touch with Nasstar to get started today.