There are thousands of articles discussing how Big Data and how it’ll change our world. But, for the average business, the practical, everyday uses of Big Data can seem out of reach. So how can big data help you?

Making better business decisions

Big Data gives businesses the tools they need to make smarter decisions based on data, not assumptions. For this to happen, everyone in the company must have access to the data they need to improve decision making. This means data should no longer be the sole domain of IT departments and business analysists; instead, business users across the company should be able to explore and interrogate data so that they can answer their most pressing business questions. This company-wide access to data is often referred to as data democratisation.

Understanding your customers

How much does Facebook know about your life, and how does it use that knowledge to give you relevant recommendations. This perfectly demonstrates a key advantage of Big Data – the more you understand about your customers, the better you can serve them.

Disney is leveraging Big Data technology to understand visitor behaviour at its theme parks. This is all possible thanks to the introduction of the MagicBand; wristbands that act as ID, entry passes, room keys, and even payment devices. Disney clocks up data on individual guest behaviour to provide a more thoughtful, personalised experience for guests (such as Disney characters greeting your kids by name).

Delivering smarter services or products

When you know more about your customers, you can design smarter products or services to suit their needs.

The average bank knows a lot about its customers, from what they like to buy, to where they go on holiday. At the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) transactional data is analysed to spot where customers might be paying twice for a financial product, like paying for travel insurance that’s already included with an account. Call centre staff can then make personalised, real-time recommendations that will help customers. While this may not be about boosting revenue directly, RBS’s initiatives promote customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Improving business operations

Many business sectors and functions are becoming more efficient with robotics and automation. This rise in automation is underpinned by Big Data.

In HR, Big Data and automation has the potential to completely augment a wide range of people-related processes, from recruitment to learning and development. For example, chat bots are already being used to answer common employee questions, and AI-driven training courses are able to spot when a trainee is having trouble. Automating mundane but time-consuming tasks frees up skilled workers for more creative, strategic work that adds greater value to the business.

Generating an income

Big Data isn’t just about improving processes and decisions, or understanding more about customers; data can be monetised to boost revenue or create an additional income stream.

Amex handles more that 25% of credit card transactions in the US and is leveraging the data generated by transactions between businesses and their customers to bring them closer together. Its merchant services now include online trend analysis and benchmarking tools to help businesses analyse how they’re doing compared to their competitors and spot trends within their market. This provides an incentive for more businesses to accept Amex, which means more transactions … and more revenue.

Are you interested in learning more about big data and predictive analysis and how they can help your business? Give BPO a call – we have the resources to bring new and exciting technologies into your business.