How much data is too much data?…
According to Forbes, in 2018 90% of the world’s data was generated in the two years prior, with more than 2.5 quintillion bytes data being created each day! Since then, digital transformations such as the Internet of Things have continued to contribute to this unprecedented tide of data in recent years. Such figures are truly mind boggling but is this mass accumulation helpful or a hindrance?
On the one hand, increased data volumes give you the opportunity to tap into a treasure trove of new digital breadcrumbs – useful snippets of data that you’re now able to capture about your company, your activity and your customers. Our reliance on smartphones, mobile apps and software-as-a-service web applications has meant that there’s now more relevant and up to date information on consumer interactions.
This is extremely beneficial, IF you’re able to distinguish from, and cut out the white-noise of, worthless miscellaneous data.
Having access to high volumes of data does not necessarily mean it will be valuable to you. In fact, it may start to actively hinder your analysis as the sheer quantity of data begins to obscure the few high-value insight nuggets that you would benefit from. This may be further compounded if your competitors ARE deriving strategic value from their data whilst you’re being swamped down with it, impeding your ability to improve business performance.
The key to obtaining value from all this data, is to be able extract insight from it. Organisations should start with their business objectives – what key questions need answering? What problems need to be addressed? And what measures will help to answer these questions? This will allow the collection of actionable data, over a never ending and vast ocean of statistics that you can ultimately do nothing with.
If you are drowning in a sea of data, contact us for help.