MIT Technology Review: Data analytics reveal real business value

Business data provides an often untapped well of organizational value. However, making sense of today’s business data is a daunting process — there’s just too much of it! And it’s often freeform in structure and siloed within the organization. Indeed, having a robust data strategy has become the key imperative for organizations keen to maximize its potential.

Today’s business data sources include:

• Customer interaction data
• Supply chain data
• Operational data
• Human resource data
• Financial data
• Market research data
• Back-office data

Fortunately, data analytics can help organizations identify and extract actionable insights from this underutilized data to support smarter decision-making, streamlined back-office processes, and enhanced business performance.