Companies perform complex analyses on their data hoping to discover important insights into performance. According to data expert Dean Abbott, on his Abbott Analytics blog, users may be ill-served by straightforward calculations. He stated that certain business cases and types of data lend themselves to more sophisticated processes.
Abbott noted that firms may not always gain optimal results from using data in its natural form. He suggested targeting the logarithm of the desired value and converting the results back or working with ratios of future to current data instead of a direct calculation.
Finding the best way to harness data requires careful data management. Abbott noted that users can often pick the best way forward with information based on characteristics such as distribution. Companies with poor
data quality and inadequate methods of manipulation may be unaware of features that could prove extremely helpful.
Best data usage cases may differ from industry to industry. For example, according to FX-MM contributor Sean Farrington, companies in the financial industry should make their data widely available for employee analysis, despite its protected and regulated nature. He explained that companies may be able to harness the information to encourage growth.