Can Big Data gives an advantage over the competition?

By theninehertz
9 Min Read
Can Big Data gives an advantage over the competition? 1

Research by McKinsey showed that businesses that take full advantage of Big data stand the chance to realize a 60% increase in their operating margins. According to the research, if the US healthcare use big data creatively and effectively, they can drive efficiency and quality in the sector in the tune of $300 billion in value every year. According to IBM,  2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created on a daily basis. With the vast proliferation of data and increasing technological complexities, Big data continues to transform the way industries operate and compete. Alongside Big data, the other technology that entered into mainstream information technology is Cloud computing services. With the help of Cloud computing services, you can comfortably process Big data on your computer systems and laptops. Since Big data is so extensive that traditional database and software techniques cannot process it, the demand for Cloud computing service provider has grown significantly.

Business competition is fierce. Especially in markets where competitors are aggressive and customer spending is slowing down. Dominating and winning the market in such a scenario requires you to define your distinctive business proposition. This is only possible when you know who your competitors are, what are their offerings and their strengths and weaknesses. You also need to have the ability to clearly know your customers and their expectations.

The market is highly dynamic where not only technology changes swiftly but the customer’s expectations also change dramatically. Only those business stand the chance to survive and win the market that can quickly anticipate and adapt to what matters to their customers now. It could be a lower price, premium service, latest product or more flexibility.

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This is where Big data can help any business find a toehold in a cutthroat and highly dynamic market. Big data can help any business discover the changing expectations of customers and position their products accordingly before their competitors. Big data can also help business discover things that matter to customers the most, but the market has not realized it yet. Using Big Data information businesses can differentiate their product offerings to achieve customer delight. This will give the customers a good reason to come back to them and prefer them over their competitors.

In this article you will read:

  1. Introduction to Big data
  2. How Can Big Data Protect a Firm From Competition?
  3. The evolving role of corporate strategy in the wake of Big Data
  4. Takeaway

Introduction to Big data

As the name suggests, Big data is all about large scale data gathering and analyzing through various means. The insight obtained from Big data analysis can help businesses remain tuned to their environment and changing customer requirements. Customer expectations are high and competition is only getting tougher. Businesses are under constant pressure to increase their efficiency, sales and improve results. But the amount of available data is also growing alongside.

Companies that realize the potential of big data are collecting this data from various sources that span across their organization and industry. The analysis of data helps businesses clearly see the improvement requirements, the increase or decrease in the sales trend, and uncover the potential gap in the market which help take on the competition. All of this insight combined gives a serious competitive advantage to business using Big data.

Big data tools challenging the traditional business assumptions

There is no surprise that Big data has become an important tool across organizations. Advanced analytics tools such as Hadoop is enabling businesses to find deeper insights and discovery, that challenges their traditional business assumption and gives them the data to make better business decisions. It also helps organizations to create business value and competitive advantage. Big data is helping the business save thousands of pounds every year, improve their procurement efficiency, support business growth, develop their marketing strategies, and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Given the sheer size, Big data can quickly get overwhelming. Hiring a competent Big data analytics company can help you quickly start analyzing your Big data. You can also choose to set up an in-house team by hiring Big data developer. However, hiring a Big data developer and setting up an in house team has its own share of disadvantages. Here are some of them:

  • You will have to make a sizable investment in the AI infrastructure before you hire a Big data developer to ensure they have the right set of tools to work efficiently.
  • The Big data developer you hire will need expert guidance and support. In the absence of such support, they will need to figure out thing on their own which will take some time before they become productive.
  • Doing it on your own will also mean that you will have to divide your focus into the nitty-gritty of Big data management which can be better spent on your core business activities.
  • You may not have access to the team of data experts and their experience on your side. However, when you hire a Big data analytics company, they can bring in their experience and expertise they have earned working on several other projects. They can also help you with professional guidance that can save you costly mistakes early on.

How Can Big Data Protect a Firm From Competition?

You know by now that business stands a strong chance to benefit from Big data through insights and trend analysis. Now we will look at how Big data is helping business give tough competition to their competitors in real time and act to trends before the rest of the market reacts.

Big data brings data from across the business and delivers real-time insights into finance, sales, marketing, product development, and much more. Big data insight helps team within the business to collaborate better and align with the bigger business goals. When the team within the business work in harmony, they achieve better results and outsell their competitors.

For example, by using networked business intelligence to link up different departments, access to data across the company is changing the way businesses approach their operational tasks. Right data availability is assisting in better decision making. Networked business intelligence (BI) provides businesses the opportunity to spot trends in customer behavior, peak or drop in sales, and act accordingly and take competitive advantage. Here are some business case scenarios where big data can protect a firm from the competition:

  • Access of right and timely data to the employee will aid better decision making. This will lead to improved product quality and features, better service levels and enhances customer satisfaction.
  • Real-time intelligence into deliveries will hugely improve the efficiency of the supply chain.
  • Companies can design services and bundled deals that resonate with their target customers based on the insight gained from data analysis of order information, customer requests and reviews about thousands of different configurations of products.

Takeaway

Large scale data collection and analytics has become the main focus for many businesses. Big data has become a critical and competitive differentiation for them. According to Oracle, about 2.5 zettabytes of data were generated in 2012 alone. The trend speaks volume that Big data will grow significantly for several years. The organizations that have harnessed the true power of Big data are drawing key insights and translating it outperform their competitors.

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My name is Hemendra Singh. I am Managing Director and co-founder of The NineHertz, a top Mobile App Development Company. I am having a keen interest in the latest trends and technologies that are emerging in different domains. Being an entrepreneur in the field of IT sector, it becomes my responsibility to aid my audience with the knowledge of the latest trends in the market.