Having a working knowledge of analytics is quickly shifting from "quirky ancillary benefit" to "business essential." For some new industries, using Big Data principles is second nature. However, especially if you work in an older or more entrenched field, your company might be resistant to these changes, and may take some convincing. Here's how you can speed up that process.
Using the right terminology is key. While IT jargon might come as second nature to you, inundating the conversation with unfamiliar phrases is likelier to yield glazed-over faces than nods of agreement. Business terms can go a long way towards helping you explain your case, and it's hard to go wrong with everyday language. Instead of discussing the "volume acceleration of corporate data availability," try pointing out that your competitors know more about your customers than you do, and that's hard to beat.
Once you've figured out the language, build your case. You don't have to address every single problem that your company has — in fact, highlighting a concrete issue that can be solved through use of analytics can go much further than positing it as a panacea. For example, say you have a problem with customer retention: people are coming through and buying things, but they're not coming back frequently enough. You can sell Big Data as a way to identify exactly where you're losing the consumer so that you can patch up those gaps and increase revenue.
Finally, make sure you point out how simple it can be to implement. Once you know how to use FileMaker, it's easy to create databases and sift through data quickly, and the results can really boost your business.