How to use big data to make better business decisions

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. Introduction
  3. Data-driven decision making
    1. What is data-driven decision making?
    2. Reporting vs. analytics
    3. Measurable improvement
  4. A big data overview
    1. What is big data?
    2. The difference between structured and unstructured data
  5. Smarter decision making with big data
  6. Learning to ask the right questions
  7. Conclusion
  8. About Paul Miller

1. Summary

In markets from financial services and retail to manufacturing and health care, companies are rushing to embrace the promise of big data. By tracking ever more data, managers hope to understand both their businesses and the ways in which customers interact with them. But simply collecting terabytes of data to produce charts and corporate dashboards misses the true scale of the opportunity. Effective data-based decisions are not made in response to simplistic data reporting; they are made in response to considered and ongoing data analysis. This paper explores the potential of data-driven decision making and considers the role that effectively analyzed big data can play in delivering insight and business value.

The report addresses the following issues:

  • The definition of data-driven decision making
  • The five-step process called the “data to decisions framework”
  • Data-driven decision making does not necessarily require data volumes such as those typically associated with big data
  • The definition of big data
  • The difference between structured and unstructured data
  • How big data can drive smarter decision making
  • The big questions to ask

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