Direct 2.0

The effective use of data and technology are essential to digital-era success. However, human intelligence, gained through experience, remains essential in interpreting that data and deploying that technology.

To get a sense of what big data is, consider the vast, fragmented, often underutilized storehouses of information that businesses collect from online and off-line POS systems, product registrations, customer service call logs, and other sources. Then, add the real-time info generated as individuals engage with brands and more importantly, with each other, across digital, social and mobile touch points.

Big data is today of such unprecedented volume, variety and velocity that it strains even the largest enterprise’s capacity to extract deep insights and actionable understanding. It is not valuable for what it is but for what it makes possible.

It’s the insights we glean from it that will have unprecedented influence on how we serve consumers. And what’s most exciting is that this is being enabled today by technology that allows data to be transformed from its raw state to a usable form.

IBM’s Watson, for example, which utilizes cognitive computing / artificial intelligence to enable partnerships between people and computers, is transforming how companies leverage and deploy data. Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and HP are also investing big time in AI solutions.

By serving up previously hidden insights, big data may actually allow marketers to become more creative and to understand the consumer so fully that even right brain-generated breakthrough ideas carry less risk and promise more reward than ever before. In the end, your ultimate payoff will come not from the fact that you’ve mastered big data, but in the reality that you’ve achieved big understanding.

That’s when human intelligence comes in. Intelligence gained through real-world experiences with Fortune 500 to mid- and small-sized companies is applied. That’s where DVI can help!

Note: This blog is extracted from Rocket Fuel to Ignite Your Business, authored by B. Sideroff and G. Verdino, with updates.