6 tips for extending business capability of big data projects
Big data projects focus on technical aspects of system and data integration—but companies get even more value from their big data projects if they have a thorough understanding of all of the systems throughout the company, including the systems that users brought in. Once IT knows how many systems could potentially benefit from a single big data project, it can extend big data business capability to many more functions than were originally thought.
Your marketing and sales departments track sales leads, but they have no way of identifying which leads are the most likely to turn into customers who buy.
To help with this problem, marketing gets a standalone sales lead scoring system that enables development of a model for a highly qualified sales lead. The system then compares this ideal prospect model to the entire prospect base, scoring and ranking prospects based upon who comes out closest to this model.
The problem: determining who this model prospect is.
Meanwhile, data analysts are busy defining a CRM database that marketing will use to analyze the customer demographics for campaigns. The CRM system was not intended to help with sales lead qualifications, but it could if marketing and IT meet before the project is designed.
Marketing can tell IT about the standalone sales lead scoring system, and together, both departments can determine if there is potential to integrate CRM analytics and information. In the process, other business processes that formerly stood alone could be incorporated.
How would this integration work?
By importing an analytically-derived “perfect customer” model from the CRM system that marketing uses in the lead-scoring system.
Processes like this extend business capability because they integrate disparate business functions beyond the original scope of just developing a CRM data repository and analytics.
The irony is that most data analysts (and their managers) miss these opportunities.
One reason is that they are so tightly focused on the immediate goal of a project, that they neglect to look beyond it.
