How unstructured data analytics transforms enterprise decision making

The information enterprises need to grow and transform their business is within reach, but they don’t leverage most of it.

Enterprises possess a wealth of data. Structured data is typically easy to access and analyze. It’s well-organized and is stored in tools like databases and spreadsheets that organizations control. As a result, it’s comparatively straightforward to consolidate and use.

On the other hand, presents data teams with a number of challenges as they seek to aggregate, clean and operationalize it. That’s because this content is everywhere in dozens of formats, is often incomplete or has unnecessary information, and is growing incredibly fast. Bernard Marr, a futurist, estimates that up to 90 percent of data is unstructured and that it is growing at a rate of 55 to 65 percent a year.

Why mastering unstructured data is critical to Business Growth

What is unstructured data? And why is it so important to enterprises today?

Unstructured data usually comes in the form of text in documents, publications, and digital communication. It often provides important context that can sharpen decision making. For example, enterprises possess structured data on their clients and partners, such as lead and sales data in customer relationship management (CRM) systems; procurement, inventory and other data in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems; and planning, material sourcing, manufacturing and logistics and other information in supply chain management (SCM) systems.

However, unstructured data paints a fuller picture of these relationships. This data includes:

• Emails, which provide a treasure trove of insight into why and how decisions are made
• Mobile and communications data, including texts, chats, and instant messages
• Social media sentiment, including likes, emojis, and comments, which can provide insights into customer needs and behavior
• Digital media, including pictures, audio recordings, and videos
• Text files, such as Word documents, presentations, and log files

And the list goes on and on.

Thus, an organization that only looks at static data from structured sources likely has a fragmented, out-of-date view of its customers. An enterprise that can capture customer behavior and feedback across all its channels has a much better understanding of what that customer thinks.

As an example, multiple calls to customer service representatives after a large purchase could indicate that a customer has growing dissatisfaction with a new product, indicating that the relationship is in jeopardy. Similarly, extensive positive social media chatter about a new offering in different regions could indicate that it’s time to accelerate production and make that product more available globally.