Focusing Your Data Collection
Focusing your data collection is a crucial step in getting the right information to make important decisions.
It doesn’t matter what type of industry you are in, or how many customers you serve. It doesn’t matter if you’re business operates from your home, or you’re on the Fortune 500. Data collection is crucial for running your business.
The data you collect today can help you make more informed decisions for tomorrow. That data should be relevant to your business operations so that you can put it to the best possible use.
Some examples of consumer data might include:
- IP addresses
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Past searches
- Health information from a phone or wearable
- Location information
- Previous ads that have been clicked on.
But before you go collecting as much consumer information as you can, it helps to understand what you might use it for, because collection for the sake of data collection is a waste of time.
Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the Market
When you understand how consumers behave online, you’re able to better target them with your marketing. This includes understanding their demographics and purchasing behaviors.
Understanding this information can help you better shape your business to fit customer needs. It can help you remain relevant in the marketplace and give you the ability to stay ahead of the industry trends. Collecting the right customer data can allow you to optimize your website and the rest of your marketing to stay ahead. This is an important consideration in focusing your data.
Strengthen Your Database
Maybe you have a new product release coming up. Maybe your company is expanding into a new market. Whatever the case may be, you’ll need a way to communicate the exciting news with your customer base. Your ability to reach out in these circumstances is only as good as the data that you collect.
When you have email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, or other behavioral information, you’re able to reach out to a targeted audience and let them know a bit of news that might interest them. This can help to automate your marketing and maximize the results.
Personalize the Experience
No matter what industry you’re in, consumers likely have a significant amount of choice. If they don’t like what they see from you, they can quickly move on to another option. The data that you collect allows for a more personalized experience.
When you know what type of products a customer is interested in, or a little bit about their online shopping habits, it allows you to personalize the experience and keep their interest in the purchasing process.
This can be done by segmenting your data to people with similar interests, or understanding what devices people are using to access your website. It can help you to shorten the sales process and capitalize on visitors. It can also help make your email marketing more appealing.
Collect Your Data Responsibly
Personal data is valuable to your customer. If that data is lost or stolen, you can break trust with your customers in a way that is difficult to repair. It’s important to understand whether your business is required to meet General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements for managing and protecting consumer data.
The Power of Focusing Your Data
It’s easy to get lost in an overwhelming sea of data. It’s easy to rationalize collection, because that’s what other companies are doing right now. But the data that you collect is only as valuable as what you are doing with it. Make sure that you continue to use it to make decisions that will improve your company.
Focusing your data is an important step in keeping the rest of your business decisions on track. It doesn’t help to collect information that you aren’t going to use.
What Data Storage Technology is Right for You?
Data storage technology is an important consideration for any business. The information businesses collect plays a critical role, and how they store that data makes a difference in protecting it.
Companies thrive when they make informed decisions based on the data they collect. It’s not necessarily about collecting more data, but instead using the data that you have in more intelligent ways. But first it needs to be properly stored.
There are three methods for storing your data, and any further options will fit into one of these categories. Each method has advantages and drawbacks, and what you choose will depend on individual factors related to your business.
Types of Data Storage Technology
On-Premises
This is for businesses looking to maintain control (and responsibility) of their data in all forms. This method amounts to the data being kept on the individual servers for your business. For many companies, the servers are typically on-premises, in a dedicated server room.
While this method may offer a more straightforward strategy, there’s increased responsibility within the IT department to protect that data, and ensure that it’s there when you need it. Companies who store their data on-site need to make sure that their hardware is current and secure, and that software is regularly updated. It’s important to make sure that the IT department is given the appropriate resources to safeguard this valuable asset.
Colocation
For many businesses, the responsibility of safeguarding that data may be a little more than they want to take on. Colocation data storage is simply taking advantage of a data center. They get the versatility of using that data and having complete control over it, without being responsible for the on-premises storage. There are pricing models that make this a dependable option.
There are often protection methods involved with colocation data storage that would be difficult to implement in an on-premises model. Data storage centers often implement new features, and companies benefit from the more complete security measures of an established data storage facility. Many data storage facilities also offer remote support, adding additional value to the package.
Cloud Storage
Businesses no longer have to be limited by the finite space in hardware storage devices. They no longer need to worry about the expense of replacing outdated storage devices, or buying new hardware as they continue to grow. Cloud storage offers an easy alternative to maintaining your own data storage equipment.
It’s also easier to access critical company data on mobile devices, or laptops, with cloud storage. This is a significant benefit to any business with a remote workforce – which is many companies during the pandemic.
The drawback to cloud storage comes in the open nature of the technology. Preventing unauthorized access to cloud storage is a significant part of data security. Added security measures such as encryption protocols and 2 factor authentication add to the security of this popular data storage method, however.
Finding the Data Storage Technology That’s Right for You
Your company will have individual factors that influence the decision on how to store your data. What you decide will likely be determined by factors such as:
- The size of your company
- The overall sensitivity of the data that you keep
- How you use the data that you keep
- The size and capabilities of your IT department
- Accessibility of data to employees and company stakeholders
Once you determine the data storage technology that you want to use, there are methods specific to that technology for keeping your data safe. If you do happen to experience data loss, you can contact We Recover Data to help you regain access.
The Role of a Data Scientist in Business
The role of data scientists is an important one for business. In order to look at it, we have to examine the increasing importance of data in companies of all sizes.
The use of data is critical for business growth and development. The right data can improve the ability to make important business decisions. It can help companies use resources more efficiently and reduce waste. It gives businesses a means to make more informed decisions that can lead to new opportunities.
But in order to properly collect and evaluate the right information, it helps to have someone who can help you to make sense of it. This is where data scientists come into play. Data scientists will continue to be in high demand, as the information that they evaluate also continues to increase in value and importance.
What Does a Data Scientist Do?
The data that you collect is useful, but making sense of it may feel similar to making sense of a foreign language. That’s where data scientists come into play. They distill vast amounts of information to help other stakeholders make informed decisions. Below are some of the responsibilities that may include:
- To gather large amounts of data and interpret it in an understandable format.
- To use programming to extract value and insights.
- To discover any useful trends.
- To stay on top of data trends with technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or text analytics.
Data Scientists Are Important In Businesses of All Sizes
It used to be that only large companies invested in data. But as the importance of collecting data has increased for businesses of all sizes, so has the need to employ talented data scientists, to help extract maximum value from that data.
Small startups, mid-size businesses, and Fortune 500 companies all rely on the data they collect to remain competitive within their markets. New software makes data more accessible to companies of all sizes. This makes hiring data scientists a no-brainer, to get the most out of the information around you.
Data Scientists Set the Foundation for Truth
An organization is only as strong as the data it collects and utilizes to make more informed decisions. This is especially true in a more competitive industry, where other businesses may be making use of their data collection practices.
Data scientists set the foundation for truth within an organization. They provide information that sets the path forward. They can offer new ways of handling familiar problems while creating new paradigms for doing business.
Because of their increasing importance in the business world, they’ve been under short supply.
The Current Shortage of Data Scientists
As the role of data has become more critical for companies, so is the ability to synthesize it into a format that allows companies to make more informed decisions. Over the last few years, salaries have increased for these positions, as companies scramble to hire qualified people for these positions.
The opportunity cost is high for companies that aren’t able to hire the right person for their position. A shortage of data scientists has been documented over the last few years, as these factors have converged. One study predicts that the demand for these positions will grow significantly between now and 2026.
The job requires a unique blend of technical skill and analytics. They require the skill of a mathematician, a programmer, and someone with the ability to translate key trends in a manner that other executives, and co-workers from other departments will be able to understand. This combination of skills can be hard to find one single person, adding to their value.
Data scientists gain entry into the field in any number of ways, but it usually starts with a 4-year degree from an accredited college. Many have advanced degrees as well. About 38 percent have a PhD, and 73 percent have a graduate degree.
The high levels of education necessary add to the growing demand.