COVID-19 has made companies large and small pivot their businesses. They might change the variety of products, freeze hiring, or let employees go to stay afloat. There is a way to avoid some of these undesirable situations with the use of big data. Companies need to tighten their purse strings as the future of the economy is in flux.
Remote work might be a hindrance for some companies, especially those with open workspaces that encourage collaboration. Something lost during remote work is the spillover of members of different teams, like web design and sales, that might spontaneously generate new ideas. Remote work may have some employees feel like they are siloed or don’t have any new projects to undertake. Big data might help with this issue.
What Is Big Data
Everything done on a computer system creates a data point. Everything means everything; every action by an employee or customer creates a piece of data. The data point might be the number of clicks a customer makes before purchasing or what they put in their cart and don’t purchase. That means each minute, thousands, maybe millions, of data points are being created. Lots of times, this data goes unused. There is so much data it might seem pointless to sift through it in fear it would be a waste of time or unusable.
However, some people know how to sort this data into usable formats; they are called Data Scientists. Data Scientists create algorithms and run programs to develop actionable pieces of business intelligence. There are a myriad of ways to use this information. These services could dramatically change the way your company conducts business.
Why You Need a Data Scientist
Using big data to your advantage will help your company leverage data that is already being generated. Looking at sales reports and output logs might seem like good uses of time, but these are often manual reports and only look at fixed results.
Capable Data Scientists can determine where the leads to sales came from, which could drive further sales. Conversely, you could learn what happens to cause a potential customer to not follow through with a purchase. This information could help your digital marketing team update its strategy. These data points already exist; you haven’t been exploiting them to their fullest potential.
It might be worthwhile to send a trusted employee with interest in leveraging the company’s current actions to top data science bootcamps to learn the skills to start helping your company utilize big data. Unlike college degrees, bootcamps focus on applicable skills and prepare students for employment in their field. The focus on actionable skills will help your company focus its efforts on your business’s more worthwhile aspects. In a matter of months, your employee could start learning and sharing unseen business trends.
Big Data as a Service
For a more immediate impact, it might be worthwhile to employ big data as a service. This will help you to quickly find essential trends. Companies that provide big data services employ teams of Data Scientists to get to work right away. It may even be possible that these services know about your industry trends that might have escaped you.
Remote work and increased online interactions are an opportunity for companies to capitalize on big data. The findings of a qualified data scientist can help lift a company that is struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Remote work and data science go hand in hand. All a Data Scientist needs are reliable Internet connection and access to the data that your company creates. Whether using in-house staff or a service provider, it is a decision that will help your company leverage its most productive ventures. Changes are going to keep happening while this COVID-19 crisis continues, and even after it ends. Get ahead of your competitors by employing data science techniques to capitalize on changes in the market.
Conclusion
Remote work and quarantines have driven business online. This was a trend before COVID-19; more data points are being collected as more interactions are happening via the Internet than face-to-face. You are already collecting the data that could revitalize your business; you only need the proper people to turn the data into usable information.
Data science can turn big data into profits or reduce spending on unnecessary exploits. Sending a knowledgeable employee to a bootcamp, such as General Assembly, or hiring a big data service provider can help your company grow.
