The ability to “future-cast” market trends, developments, and even customer preferences and behaviour is part of both the potential and appeal of using Big Data. Rita Lun, former consultant for think thank firm Our Hong Kong Foundation says that, “It’s not just for understanding consumer behaviour…Big Data can be applied anywhere, everywhere.”

And, of course, Big Data can also be used to make better business decisions. This eliminates the need for making decisions based on intuition, which can be subjective, not completely free of bias, and unreliable.

But what about a business’ success and survival? Can Big Data really be used to help secure your business’ future? The short answer is, as long as data analysis is done right, yes. We explain further below.

Widening the Gap

Data analysis is not just a tool for finding insights and data relationships which businesses with the “win now” mindset can use to develop a competitive edge. According to a report by global accounting firm Ernst & Young, companies that adopt Big Data put themselves in a position to not only find advantages but also widen the gap between them and the competition—capitalising and enhancing their current strengths to move farther away from the rest of the pack.

This bigger gap resulting from the proper use of data, aside from legitimising and strengthening one’s lofty position in the market, also gives a bit of leeway or allowance to develop other business areas. Since there’s growing distance between them and their competitors, a business can focus on key areas such as improving research and development, forecasting, and product strategy—operations that are definitely significant for future success. The end result is a business that’s not only successful today but also more equipped for the future.

An Approach to Agility and Forward-thinking

Data analysis can take a number of steps, depending on the business and its objectives. For example, there could be an initial analysis stage where insights can already be derived, and there could be a second, more focused analysis phase that compares different data-based strategies. The insights gained can be used to create dynamic cases where one strategy that arises from data analysis is set against another to see which one is better.

This is a great way to test strategies that competitors are using, and compare them with your own. Through this, a business gets a better understanding of its current strong and weak points, as well as what needs to be done to address weaknesses and enhance strengths. This can be done with a general (whole business as the subject) or more specific point of view, where individual processes and strategies are the main targets of the analysis. Ultimately, it is this dynamism of Big Data that can guide a business towards long-term success or survival.

When organisations become more data-driven, they also become more agile in dealing with problems. They start to adopt a problem-solving mindset that values being proactive, rather than simply following a rigid set of operating procedures that lacks flexibility and forward-thinking. This mindset is what can help your business cope with future industry and market changes better.

A great example of agile thinking brought about by Big Data use is Amazon. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos likes to say that he’s not focused on the competition. Rather, he’s focused on his customers. This customer-centric approach requires Amazon to use data analysis in order to automate many of their processes and systems, such as their recommendations for next purchases. This made things easier and more convenient for their customers, resulting in more and faster sales as well as improved customer satisfaction which has helped Amazon evolve through the years to become the largest online retailer in the world. And they’re poised to continue their success, thanks to Big Data.

It is this kind of approach that allows companies to get ahead. Big Data encourages businesses to get creative with strategies and make corporate survivability—and even future success—a definite possibility.

Learning Now for the Future

As we’ve said in a previous post, effective data analysis is a practice in constant learning. This means that, the more data you analyse, the more insights you gain for developing strategies, determining which ones will work, and avoiding problems and risks in the future.

For example, companies that use factory equipment or heavy machinery can use Big Data to plan out maintenance schedules more effectively. From the data they generate, they learn how to make better use of their maintenance teams, avoid system failures, and formulate backup plans for equipment malfunctions to reduce losses and damages and prevent any large-scale disruptions in operations.

Constantly learning from Big Data can vastly improve decision-making and gives a clearer picture of what will work, what won’t work, and the trends to prepare for. This has positive, far-reaching effects on reducing costs, streamlining processes, finding opportunities, improving overall efficiency, product development, and customer satisfaction—all key ingredients for a business’ success and survival in the future.

The Future Lies in Your Data

The future brings both opportunities and threats, and your long-term success depends on how you’ll handle them. The good news is, data analysis can be your key to achieving the outcomes you want. With Latize’s intelligent data management platform Ulysses, you’ll be able make sense of your data, deriving from it key insights that will lead to success not only today but in the future as well. Contact us and know how Big Data can work wonders for your business.