Big Data: Market Competitiveness

Big Data: Market Competitiveness The exploding large data generated by our current world, the so-called big data, is slowly but surely becoming the key basis to competitiveness in the market. Every sector is either starting or will have to very soon start grappling with the implications of such large data sets. This large data, is a very important factor in the labor, production and capital injection in any business. The increasing volumes and detail of information captured by enterprises, via a number of multimedia tools, social media and the Internet of Things, fuels the exponential growth in the data for the very near future. The value which can be created from big data is significant. Information becomes available at a higher frequency, allowing for new information and trends to be utilized in real-time. Such data and information can be more accurate about customer transactions and product performance, amongst others, thus boosting performance faster. We can already see a number of leading brands and companies analyzing collected data to make better management decisions in the long run. Others are resorting to utilizing low-frequency forecasting to manipulate and adjust the business parameters, just in time. Moreover, big data has the potential to provide the segmentation of customers according to the business needs, together with the correct statistical analysis. With this onset of such huge analysis and mathematical manipulation, it can be assumed, that at some point, there might be a shortage of skills necessary for organizations to take advantage of big data. A number of universities are including a larger number of analytical courses, degrees and specializations to cater for this new skills gap. In the very near future, it will not just be the analysts, essential in a business, but also the managers with the understanding to address the analysis of big data and take effective and efficient decisions. Such decisions, include but are not limited to, the investments in customer relationship management (CRM), solutions to lower the customer acquisition cost (CAC) and other solutions to increase the customer lifetime value (CLTV) to manage customer-driven metrics at their best. Denise De Gaetano, is a data scientist, science communicator and entrepreneur by profession. Contact: E: [email protected] S: denisedegaetano.weebly.com