Every two days, an amount of information equivalent to what humanity produced from the origin of civilization until 2013 is generated in the world. Every digital interaction, every click on an image on social networks, every time we move between two points, our mobile phone continues to emit information, even when we sleep. 90% of the data available today was created in the last five years. Daily multiplication is exponential. The volume is so great that it is difficult for us to think about it. Indeed, we generate more data than we can consume.

For all this, automation tools that allow us to capture, ingest, process and exploit data without human intervention, are becoming increasingly relevant: there is no physical capacity or time available to achieve it in another way. Not even with armies dedicated exclusively to that.

Structured, unstructured, semi-structured

Data comes in different formats: the structured ones are those that are historically kept in business databases and that follow a field model. Customer files or transactions made in one day are kept according to this guideline.

Unstructured data refers to videos, photos, audios and other elements that require more intelligent processes to take action. And semi-structured data is grouped according to labels and usually comes, for example, from material that is downloaded from social networks to study the analysis of user opinions about a certain company. The good news: technological tools are available to analyze and exploit the entire data set, regardless of its format.

Reduce the cycle, understand the world, anticipate scenarios

In this context, predictive analytics tools offer multiple benefits for companies: from understanding the consumer to understanding the world. This allows us to act accordingly and increase sales, create more personalized products or generate better experiences for customers, among other things.

And just as the data allows us to understand what happened (How much did we sell last month?) and what is happening (What inventory levels do I have right now?), it also offers us the possibility of forecasting. In uncertain and changing times like the ones we live in, «playing» with the variables that can change and waiting to see what happens is no longer a luxury that we can afford. The margin of error is reduced. The precision with which we read the following scenario will allow us to optimize production, maintain the stock we need and perfectly satisfy our customers.

One of the most outstanding points, however, is that decision-making cycles are reduced: a key element in which if the moment we have the answers is delayed, the questions have already changed.

No legacy complexities

What elements slow down the proper exploitation of data? Legacy systems and processes that involve intermediaries: emails, Excel sheets, reports that are printed to obtain conclusions… We need to make a change of mindset, to promote that the points where data is generated, is directly connected to the points where it is consumed.

The first step is that the existing data is curated, stored and available to be exploited. Then, the appropriate tools will have to be incorporated: Business Intelligence, dashboards or solutions such as Intelligent Forecasting, which uses machine learning to make predictions and estimate scenarios. And, of course, that there is a repository – a data lake, a data warehouse – that enables all the components of the organization’s ecosystem to access the same knowledge.

Putting the focus on data implies a cultural change for companies that does not take place overnight. But the sooner the dots are connected, the sooner data can be transformed into business benefits.

If you want to delve into this topic, we invite you to watch the recording of the «Predictive Analytics» webinar.