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Last week, this blog discussed the ability for organizations to use data and shape their personnel management strategies around the contents of their information. The same can be said about the departments that employees either currently or soon will work in.

By evaluating the operations of various departments, businesses can determine exactly what they need to do to improve their productivity. The answer may be as simple as minor operational changes, or it may result in the need to bring in new workers. The truth typically lies in the information. Building a custom database software system designed to analyze the productivity of each department will ultimately help organizations determine whether or not they need to bring in new employees or let current ones go.

This can give insights into which areas of business have the most pressing need. For example, if a company is relatively successful but ends up lagging behind in one or more areas, it might be determined that a specific area needs more people in order to hold up its end of the bargain. In today’s uncertain economic landscape, companies cannot afford to make hiring mistakes, but using big data to analyze both positions and applicants can help ensure that each hire is the right fit.

Big Data shaping enterprise IT hiring

Not only is big data dictating the way companies manage employees, the entity itself is having a major impact on IT departments. The growth of big data is expected to create 4 million new jobs globally by 2015, according to a report from icrunchdata. Roughly half of them are in the United States alone. IT departments across the country are shifting their focus on developing solutions designed to better track information, so bringing in individuals who focus on the practice will go a long way toward ensuring the success of a big data strategy.

This trend is being fueled by IT departments that understand hiring analytical minds is just as important as hiring those with experience managing high-tech systems. Todd Nevins, a spokesman from icrunchdata, said in a statement that he isn’t sure where this trend is ultimately going, but as long as companies are finding the value in hiring personnel with analytical skills, he doesn’t believe it will die down.

“The hype is through the roof, but I’m not sure when it will turn,” he said. “We aren’t seeing any signs of a slow down on our side from companies recruiting big data talent due to the massive opportunities in their data. We don’t expect to see any pull back in the foreseeable future as long as the ROI continues to exceed the expense of finding, recruiting and retaining big data talent.”

Of course, even though businesses are hiring professionals with an understanding of big data, they still must possess the solutions needed to ensure their analytics strategies yield the best results. FileMaker development can help create the applications needed to examine information, process it and generate effective reports quickly and effectively. A combination of this system with highly skilled IT professionals will help ensure companies have the ability to maximize the value of their data.

Proper analytics can offer businesses a myriad of advantages and, as big data continues to grow, the number of business components that can be analyzed is seemingly endless. While information has been used to gain new insights about the sales and marketing side of business, the people behind a company's actions can also be viewed, and their behavior can be analyzed to help executives manage them. 

An article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek refers to people analytics as the "next big thing in big data." Using information to help understand the way workers interact with each other, how they operate, when they are most productive and so on and so forth can allow organizations to effectively manage a number of key areas of business, including scheduling and task assignments.

For example, if one individual is more productive in the afternoon and the data supports this, companies can change the way they manage that worker after lunch. The insights gained from people analytics can design a more efficient and productive workforce.

This strategy is already in place in some areas, according to Ben Waber, the article's author.

"Some companies are using this approach to boost productivity," Waber wrote. "Bank of America analyzed their call center operation to change how their employees took breaks, reducing turnover and increasing performance dramatically. Cubist Pharmaceuticals found that it had too many coffee machines. By introducing centralized coffee areas it was able to increase serendipitous interactions and sales."

To assist with this process, it's important to be equipped with the proper software. FileMaker development will help create a custom database software system designed to track employees, monitor activity and help make smart personnel decisions. 

In the highly competitive retail industry, organizations are always looking for ways to improve their position in the market. In the big data era, many key competitive advantages are coming from gathering and analyzing information, but several retailers are having a hard time optimizing their data management strategies. 

Retailers across the globe seem to be struggling with information. In Australia, this issue was the theme of a recent conference held to share ideas about data management. At the Australian Information Industry Association event, held earlier this month, consumer strategist Diane Shelton offered a sentiment shared by business executives all over the world.

Shelton, who has worked in the grocery and broadband industries in Australia, told the audience that as information grows, it's becoming harder to make sense of it all.

"We have an enormous difficulty in the short amount of time we've got to look at data and really take out the key points," she said. "Our data colleagues who are working with it all day are just swamped with information, so there's a lot of noise, and online gives you more noise than you ever wanted."

She added that many organizations are procuring massive, complex systems designed to manage data, but they are essentially too big for their own good and are more cumbersome than helpful. For retailers across the planet and here in the United States, the key is to find solutions to simplify the display of information, which can be accomplished with FileMaker development. By creating a custom database software system, organizations can effectively track data and manage it in a way that allows them to obtain key insights and improve their operations.

Traditional sentiment has always indicated that marketers can use big data management to specifically focus on key demographics. While the benefits of doing so are evident, it should be noted that negating those who fall outside of target groups is an ill-advised strategy.

In reality, data should be used to target everyone, not just those who fit the parameters of an ideal customer. According to a study conducted by Catalina researchers, 53 percent of sales are conducted with individuals outside of the target demographic. This means that if marketers simply increase their efforts to lock onto a specific group, they could be preventing their respective companies from bringing in half of their potential revenue.

As a result, marketers have to expand the use of their data to ensure they are reaching all potential parties. An article in Forbes suggests that big marketing data isn't big enough yet.

"We need to stop thinking about target consumers and start thinking in terms of consumer networks," writes Greg Satell, the article's author. "Just because the daughter buys it, doesn't mean the mother (or father or brother) won't and beyond consumers themselves, there are advocates and detractors that can affect a purchase as well. They all matter."

This ties into the point this blog made about how information can be used to break down demographics into individual targets. Using FileMaker development to build a custom database software system will go a long way toward giving marketers the ability to mix-and-match groups to develop ideal campaigns for each potential customer.

To make an educated assessment about a particular component of society, you need a large sample size. If one individual behaves a particular way while shopping, that doesn’t necessarily indicate a trend. But if 1,000 people display this same behavior, especially if they are condensed in a certain area, that might be something of note. Organizing a marketing strategy to target this type of person is valuable if data indicates that there are a lot of them, but the information gleaned from this aggregation of individuals can take business strategies to a whole other level.

Let’s start with your group of a few thousand customers. Suppose these people shop online at night. That’s great information that can be used to adjust operations to ensure that group is targeted properly. But while that large collection of consumers behaves in a similar fashion, they each have their own distinguishing features, idiosyncrasies and preferences that should be accounted for.

Suppose that, of that group of people who buy online during the night time, 60 percent are female and 40 percent are male. Then, perhaps 40 percent of the women are over 50, 30 percent are aged 30-49 and the other 30 percent are under 30. This is where things can get interesting. Not only does each sub-demographic have its own traits, the individuals inside them will behave independently of one another. Groups can be broken down to the individual. Each person represents a segment of a larger collection, but everyone is unique. Businesses that understand this can get a firm reading on each consumer and address their actions accordingly.

Patrick Wolfe, a statistician who studies social networks at University College in London, understands this. Wolfe spoke with the MIT Technology Review about the power of data and how it can be used to find out certain characteristics of each individual consumer.

“There is so much more data out there that you can afford to tailor it to the individual,” Wolfe said. “Statistically, strength comes from pooling people together, but then the icing on the cake is when you individualize the findings.”

Data can do so much, but it must be properly organized for those tasked with analyzing it to obtain the greatest possible value. Developing a custom database software system will allow businesses to use their information in a way that identifies groups and then pinpoints individuals. For instance, if businesses know that males shop a certain way and people over the age of 50 buy in a manner that’s different than younger individuals, a 52-year-old man will be treated based on that information. A significant amount of cross-referencing will have to be done and it will likely take a robust software system that helps keep that information organized.

FileMaker development can help companies build an application that can manage all of this data. It might be easy to get confused when businesses are using their information to build targets for each customer, but a FileMaker-based system will keep everything organized and allow organizations to extract the most value from their data.

The effects of big data are being felt by individuals throughout their respective organizations, from the highest executives to entry-level end users. The former, however, are experiencing the biggest impact because their pertinent business decisions are being fueled by the information their company processes on a daily basis.

This is the subject of the upcoming MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, taking place on the Cambridge, Massachusetts, campus later this month. Recently, Erik Brynjolfsson, an MIT professor and moderator of the upcoming event, spoke with the online publication Tech Target and shared his thoughts on big data and how it's affecting business executives in 2013. 

"In particular, the availability of data is making it possible for managers to make much more data-driven decisions, instead of relying on instinct and gut feel," Brynjolfsson said. "Now we are finally beginning to have really good measures of what's going on with our customers, with our employees, with our suppliers, with our business processes, with the products and services we sell. With really good data comes the opportunity to make more data-driven decision making – and it is already delivering results."

He went on to say that according to their research, companies that use data to drive their processes are 5 percent more productive than their competitors and 6 percent more profitable. In short, decisions backed by data tend to be smarter and lead to better results.

Of course, obtaining data is only the start. It has to be processed and viewed in a way that allows for smart decisions to be made in a timely manner. FileMaker helps with this process because it allows organizations to build effective custom database software systems, which will give them a clear view of their information and help them understand how to use it. 

Since the advent of big data as a common business issue and cloud computing as a data management solution, there has been much chatter about both. Some of the more traditionally-minded professionals have suggested that the cloud is an inadequate information management solution because it lacks the level of security businesses need. Those fears can be put aside.

An article in Smart Businesses titled "How holding to cloud hosting and data management myths could cost you" addresses this very issue and emphatically states that many of the fears about cloud computing are unfounded. 

"Cloud infrastructure is at least as secure and possibly more secure than the dedicated servers many companies are currently using," writes Ryan Niddel, the article's author. "The hardware virtualization architecture used in cloud hosting keeps systems working through redundancy, which means utilizing multiple servers to back up clients' data. And the transition from one environment to another happens with no perceived interruption in service."

Essentially, the nature of hosting data in the cloud is what will inevitably protect it from a security breach. This means that when organizations are finding ways to manage information, perhaps by creating a custom database software system, hosting that solution in the cloud will go a long way toward keeping information safe. 

FileMaker is a perfect development solution for businesses looking for smart ways to store and manage their data. Not only will they be able to build an effective application that can help view and report on information in real-time, the ability to host this system in the cloud will provide extra layers of efficiency. And, despite traditional thought, users managing this system in the cloud can rest assured knowing their data is safe and secure. 

Productivity is the key to business profitability. When it comes down to it, companies need their employees to do the jobs they are assigned to and for everyone to work as a cohesive unit. However, in an increasingly technical workspace, that’s becoming harder for many companies, as any failures pertaining to hardware or software must be addressed. Often, smaller organizations lack the personnel to manage these issues with licensed professionals.

If a server should shut down or a backup fails and information is lost, any company without an IT staffer onsite has limited options. Typically, the individual in the office with the most computer knowledge is asked to perform the task, which certainly isn’t an ideal solution.

Not only is the person tasked with solving the problem likely untrained in whatever they are doing, they also aren’t doing their actual job, at least at that moment, so the company suffers greatly. A recent study covered this scenario and found that businesses lose up to $24 million each year in productivity as a result.

“Many small businesses do not have the budget for formal IT support, so they rely on the company’s most tech-savvy individual to manage their technology,” said Andy Bose, CEO of AMI-Partners, the organization that conducted the survey.

Many issues like this relate to lost information. Businesses obtain complex hardware and software solutions that they are unequipped to manage and, as a result, data becomes lost. Instead, organizations should simplify the process with a database software system that’s both user-friendly and accessible from a multitude of places. This alleviates the stress on any one particular system.

FileMaker is a perfect solution in this scenario because it can be hosted in the cloud, which can help reduce a number of complex IT infrastructure issues that some companies may not be able to fix.

Rebranding is a major venture at any organization but, at times, it is completely necessary. When a company decides its current image has grown stale, or it wants to slightly adjust its offerings to attract new business, rebranding could be in order. However, because this action can make or break an organization, it's imperative that enough effort goes into the project to ensure its success. This includes the collection of a substantial amount of data.

A rebranding effort is designed to change the way a company appears in front of the public. So, it's best to gauge the public's opinion prior to committing to any dramatic change in the tone of an organization. Social media campaigns are popular because they are so easy to manage with today's technology, but there are other ways to reach out and extract data from potential customers as well. The key is to find a way to store and manage that information.

Developing a system designed to pull, sort, view and report on pertinent information can go a long way toward ensuring the success of a rebranding strategy. Suppose an organization wants to change its color scheme and it ran a public poll with three different options to choose from. The company will want to know which scheme received the most votes, so it can incorporate that information into its strategy.

However, it should be noted that information isn't always as cut-and-dry. One color scheme could emerge as the winner of that particular poll, but those who voted on it may not be the target audience. That information will have to be considered as well. 

Ultimately, the amount of data that goes into structuring a rebranding project is vast and it is extremely complex. Using simply systems to manage it won't allow businesses to yield the most value from their information. Using FileMaker to create a custom database software solution, however, will give companies the tools they need to harness the power of their data and orchestrate a truly positive rebranding strategy. 

Communication between businesses and consumers has been increasingly digital since the advent of the internet. Moreover, the shift from in-person to online interaction appears to be accelerating, rather than slowing down. Today, organizations rely on online interaction with consumers to fuel their business initiatives, and any issue that prevents that could lead to major problems.

Companies need solutions in place to monitor Web activity and the successes and failures that accompany the online experience. For example, suppose the website is down for a period of time or a specific function of the site is broken. Those issues must be handled quickly.

In today's big data era, they can be. You've probably seen an application crash and a subsequent popup message asking if you want to restart the program or send information to an admin. When issues are reported, this is data that can be processed to fix these issues quickly without compromising the user experience.

Anindya Neogi, a contributor with Forbes India, wrote a recent article explaining his problems paying his mobile bill online. The payment portal wasn't working and, although Neogi works in IT and has an understanding of how issues like this get fixed, he was frustrated due to the amount of time it was taking to resolve his issue. 

Negoi compared encountering an online issue with calling to file a complaint, and how each is resolved at a different rate. 

"When I lodge my complaint with the call-center and the application support engineer is called in, how does he detect the problem in minutes and not 24-48 hours?" he asked. "The IT systems produce a huge amount of data with wide variety to trace most activities, such as those on the payment transaction flow."

Businesses need a system designed to better process data generated from online issues. A custom database software system will allow information to be found and processed quickly, which will improve the effectiveness of online services.