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?
One of the reasons I started this blog was to gain a better understanding of how web analytics meshed with social media and varying marketing channels. I’m constantly amazed by two extremes: those who use the growing world of big data to drive strategic decisions and improve their businesses and organizations, and those that spend more money on 
A social business is about linking people and prioritizing people first. This month Google introduced Google+ to enterprise users. The challenge of course, is how to convert organizations that, in the absence of a social option, have likely turned to other alternatives. Think 
You have a lot of pages on your website. Some are naughty. With a few simple steps, you can figure out which ones are misbehaving, try to figure out why, and then do something about it. It will take you about an hour, but is one of the best uses of your time in the world of web analytics.
Google Docs and Sites work so well together that peanut butter and jelly need to step up their game. Here’s why:
One of the teams I work with recently asked a simple question that everyone involved with any collaborative effort should: “are people using the content we developed?” The ask implied not only a need to get it right, but a desire to make data-driven decisions about what to do if the answer was no.