We are entering the era of the data economy, when organizations will succeed or fail based largely on their ability to leverage data and analytics, writes Wikibon Principal Research Contributor and Big Data Analyst Jeff Kelly in “The Data Economy Manifesto”. By 2020 the big data technology products and services market will grow to $50 billion from a base of $11.6 billion in 2012, Wikibon predicts, and the total worldwide volume of data is expected to reach 6.6 zettabytes by 2020 in the United States alone.

To learn more about what is happening and how your organization can start gaining business advantage through new big data technologies and processes, watch theCUBE’s big data event, BigDataSV 2014, on SiliconAngle February 11-13.

The figures are impressive, but the important thing is that in order to survive and, better, prosper, in this new economy, your organization must learn how to get the maximum business value from the data available to it at any given time. “Data and technology are simply enablers,” Kelly writes. “It’s how we as a society, from individual companies to entire markets, put both data and technology to work that will drive real value creation and define the new Data Economy.”

Companies will succeed or fail in this new economy based on how well they can apply data to:

·         Improve operational efficiencies,

·         Make better tactical and front-line decisions,

·         Make better strategic and “big picture” decisions,

·         Automate real-time business processes,

·         Manage risk, security and privacy, and,

·         Collaborate and co-innovate with partners and competitors.

Leaders already out of the gate

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And it is already happening. Early adopters are already leveraging new data processing and analysis technologies to improve existing business processes, increasing productivity and efficiency. In the future some will “reinvent themselves and entire markets by creating new data-driven business models in which the analysis and dissemination of data is itself the product.”

To transition to the data economy, Kelly writes, organizations must invest in three critical areas: technology, people and culture. As usual with these major transitions, technology is the easiest. But by itself it is not enough. Companies must invest in people who understand how to apply big data analysis creativity to solve problems, gain advantage in the market and in some cases create whole new data-based products and services. Finally for many people culture is the most difficult. It requires that executives at all levels replace traditional “seat-of-the-pants” guesswork decision-making with new methods that apply big data analysis to find the answers and predictions that have the best percentage chance of the greatest success.

As with all Wikibon research, Kelly’s entire report is available without charge on the Wikibon Web site. IT professionals are invited to register for free membership in the Wikibon community. This allows them to participate in Wikibon research, network with other IT professionals, and post their questions, tips, comments and original research on the site.