Every two days an amount of information equivalent to the ones produced by humanity from the origin of civilization until 2013, is generated in the world. Every digital interaction, every click, every action on social media, every time we move between two points – even if we don’t even notice it – our mobile phone continues to broadcast information, even when we sleep. 90% of the data available was created in the last 5 years. Daily multiplication is exponential. The volume is so great that it is difficult for us to think about it, to scale it so that our brains can understand it. Indeed, we generate more data than we can consume.

For all this, the 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. 

Structured, unstructured, semi-structured

This data comes in different formats: 

• Structured data are those that are historically kept in business databases and that follow the field model. Customer files or transactions carried out in one day are kept according to this guideline.
• Unstructured data refers to videos, photos, audios and other elements that require smarter processes to take action. 
• 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’s emotions. 

The good news: technological tools that analyze and exploit the entire dataset, are available 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, whether it is to increase sales, launch 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 in the last month?), and what is happening (What inventory levels do I have at the moment?), they also offer us the possibility of projecting. In uncertain and changing times like the ones we live in, “playing” with the variables that can change and then 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. This is a key element in this era in which questions change by the time we have the answers.

Without inherited complexities

What elements slow down the proper exploitation of data? Legacy systems and processes that involve intermediaries: emails, Excel sheets that require manual inputs, reports that are printed to obtain conclusions… We need to make a change of mindset to promote that the points where the data is generated are directly connected with the points where this data 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, there is a repository – a data lake, a data warehouse – that enables all components of the organization’s ecosystem to access the same knowledge.

Focusing on data implies a cultural change for companies that does not happen overnight. But the sooner the dots are connected, the sooner the data will 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.