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THEIR DATA?
FORBES
More and more businesses are waking up to theimportance of data as a strategicresource. Yesterday,
researchreleasedbytheEconomistIntelligenceUnitreportedthat 60% of theprofessionalstheyquizzedfeelthat data
isgeneratingrevenuewithintheirorganizations and 83% sayitismakingexistingservices and products more profitable.
Thismakesitclearthatbusinesses are finding more and more ways to turn data intovalue, but at thesame time,
thereportfound, many are hittingstumbling blocks which are frustratingthoseefforts. Just 34% of
respondentssaidthattheyfeeltheirorganizations are “veryeffective” at beingtransparentwithcustomersabouthow data
isused. And 9% saytheyfeelthatthey are “totallyineffective” in thisarea, which can be verydetrimental to buildingtheall-
importantcustomer trust.
Forbusinessesthat are builtaroundcustomer data (orthosewhich are repurposing to be so), customer trust
isabsolutelyessential. Wehaveseenthatpeople are becomingincreasinglywilling to handover personal data in
returnforproducts and servicesthatmaketheirliveseasier. Howeverthatgoodwill can evaporate in
aninstantifcustomersfeeltheir data isbeingusedimproperly, ornoteffectivelyprotected.
Thereportstatesthat ‘Big Data analysis, orthemining of extremelylarge data sets to identifytrends and patterns,
isfastbecoming standard businesspractice.
“Global technologyinfrastructure, too, has matured to anextentthatreliability, speed and security are
alltypicallyrobustenough to supporttheseamlessflow of massivevolumes of data, and consequentlyencourageadoption.”
Italsogoeson to suggestthat more and more businesses, takingcuesfrom online giantssuch as Facebook and Google, are
positioningthemselves as data-firstoperations, builtentirelyaround data collection, analysis and redistribution – as
opposed to simplyusingit as a source of businessintelligence.
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Overall, itseemsbusinesses are fairlyconfidentabouttheirability to keepour data safe – with 82% sayingthattheir data
protectionprocedures are “very” or “somewhat” effective. However, weknowthatlargescaletheft of customer data
fromcorporationsisanever-growingproblem. Executives at organizations hit bythistype of crimerecently – such
as Anthem, TalkTalk and the US Government – werepresumablyfairlyconfidentthattheirsystemsweresafetoo –
untiltheydiscoveredthattheyweren’t. Thereportalsomakesitclearthat data breaches are certainlynotlimited to
thehighprofileincidentsthatreceivecoverage in the media. In fact, fairlyshockingly, 34% of
respondentssaidthattheirbusinesseshadsuffered “significant” data breacheswithinthepast 12 months. [770 words]
The EIU report, which can be read in full here, makesitclearthatadoption of Big Data drivenstrategies has come on in
leaps and boundsduringthelastyear. Howeveritisalsoequallyclearthatthereisstill a longway to
gountileverybusinessissecureenough in itsinfrastructure to transition to a fully data drivenbusinessmodel. [834 words]
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