Don't swim through the data deluge, breathe freely under its waters

Let's face it, we're in an era of data proliferation where, as marketers, we are being challenged by a deluge of data that is well beyond the capacity of traditional organizations to comprehend and use. Some research suggests that the quantity of customer data available to managers increases more than 50% per year. Unlike the rate of information growth per person, the average growth of information consumption per person is only 2% a year; illustrating a growing surplus of idle and unproductive information. This gap between the high growth of information and the slower data consumption capacity of individuals is one of the major barriers to leveraging the growing data asset.

Thus "absent any breakthroughs in human beings’ ability to process data, unless new tools and approaches are adopted, the gap will continue to grow". Fortunately, this increased amount of data can be processed intelligently by commensurate advances in data-mining, machine learning and data management tools and processes. Such tools and processes have the potential to improve managers’ access to the data asset, unlock its latent value through data analysis and insight applications, and increase its rate of conversion to enterprise value. If you aren't reading up on Big Data, Master Data Management, Machine Learning, Real-Time Decision Systems and everything else related to data ingestion and digestion, you better strap in and get ready for a ride, because the future doesn't belong to those who try to swim through the data deluge, but to those who can breathe freely under its waters.

Stay tuned as I publish my upcoming series of posts on the data enterprise and lessons in scuba data-diving...