Usually big trends in business follow on the footsteps of new research or data staking the claim of transformational ROI. Whether it’s a system (HRM, CRM, ERP/M), a process (six sigma) or a style (management rotations, profit sharing) just about all of these major business trends came about after extensive trial and error, piloting, testing, and researching. We live in a fundamentally changed world if you didn’t notice.
Everything that is now “social” went just about backwards – all of a sudden “social” was producing disruptive amounts of data that cut across organizational units and so a new business trend emerged… big data.
As we’re just beginning to see the way big data plays out across different functions and industries, it got its start in some way as a way to find ROI for everything “social”. In fact, as Dion Hinchcliffe pointed out last month, just about everyone is trying to buy their way into “social” (but more on that another time). Whether it’s because staff expect it (they use it in their personal lives) or it’s how their customers are spending their time (mobile, social, both), for- and not-for profit organizations have dramatically amped up their digital analytics teams to make the most of the change.
But there’s a bigger question that comes first: is Big Data for you?
