Companies looking to gain an edge with data analytics

At the recent Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford event, big data evangelists asserted that insight and analytics will be essential to business success in the future, as reported by Ben Rooney in an article for The Wall Street Journal. John Aristotle Phillips explained that the practice of harnessing the data we are constantly creating has already demonstrated its utility - in the outcome of the recent presidential election.

President Barack Obama's campaign was much more effective at capturing consumer data and using it to develop targeted ads, which gave it the competitive edge, Phillips said, as quoted by the Journal.

However, the buzz around big data may be much larger than it actually deserves, according to Business Insider. When the definition is boiled down, the strategy means businesses are harnessing a vast amount of external data, storing it internally and then using advanced tools and experts to dissect it for data quality and insight.

The true challenge and triumph may lie in the process of adapting new decision-making models. Companies have been collecting data for decades, the source adds, but to truly make the most of its potential, leaders from sales, marketing and customer service teams need to come together to make sense of the correlations it identifies.