Charles Loui-Ying understands the power of data to drive decision-making.
As senior director of IT for Saje Natural Wellness, Mr. Loui-Ying is actively engaged in using analytics tools to gain data-driven insights for one of Canada's fastest-growing medium-sized companies. Saje manufactures and sells plant-based, all-natural wellness products, from home remedies to skincare to essential oils. A family business launched in Vancouver in 1992, the company now has more than 45 locations across North America, with plans to launch 150 more stores over the next five years.
According to Mr. Loui-Ying, at this point in its evolution, Saje works with what he calls "baby" big data — structured data around customers and purchasing that his team can classify and analyze in-house using business intelligence tools.
"At Saje we look at it as: How are we enhancing our guest experience, our customer experience? And what are we doing to educate around product and enhance [the] entire customer journey?" he says.
But while recognizing that Saje has only dipped its toe into the big data pool so far, Mr. Loui-Ying says the company is keeping an eye on the potential future benefits of a more robust big data investment.
"We're doing the hybrid approach," he explains. "It's 'What are the small pieces I can be doing in-house where I can get a few of these key insights that I want?' But also, it's a bit of that forward-looking approach, of knowing that I want to make sure I'm gathering [data] and curating it in some way that I know I will be able to leverage in the future, [maybe] with the help of third parties."
Mr. Loui-Ying is also intrigued by the promise of unstructured data — "all that social media data and Internet of Things data and beacon data that I can collect," he says. (Beacons are devices embedded in mobile phones that can transmit data over short distances.) "Everyone is walking around with their smartphones and [generating so much data]. How are we setting ourselves up to [leverage] these insights?"
As technology continues to expand the possibilities for data collection, Mr. Loui-Ying expects that big data analytics will become an imperative for organizations. "It'll just become a way of doing business. We're not truly putting it together yet, but we know we'll get there."
For years now, headlines have proclaimed the business benefits of big data. And studies are increasingly showing that assertion to be valid. In a 2013 report by San Francisco—based Tech Pro Research, which surveyed 144 organizations worldwide, 82 per cent reported having achieved at least some form of return on investment (ROI). Similarly, a 2014 report by global management consultancy Accenture that polled over 1,000 organizations worldwide found 92 per cent of businesses who had completed at least one big data implementation were satisfied with the business outcomes.
But while big data initiatives are becoming a no-brainer for large corporations, confusion over how to effectively leverage big data can make some medium-sized businesses wonder if it's worth the investment.
Conor Duffy, Dell EMC's global strategist for enterprise solutions and alliances, says that Dell's 2015 Global Technology Index survey of 2,900 decision makers at medium-sized businesses revealed 44 per cent of organizations don't even know how to approach big data subjects.
"I think people say, 'Hang on, I'm a small— or medium-sized business customer. I've got a couple terabytes of data here. I'm not big data. Where do I start? What information do I track? What data do I have?' They might be intimidated by big data because it is such a big subject," says Mr. Duffy.
Medium-sized companies can face roadblocks when deciding to implement big data initiatives, says Darren Meister, an associate professor of entrepreneurship at Western University's Ivey Business School in London, Ont. He notes that many medium-or-small-sized enterprises are managed by intuition, and an analytics approach needs a different form of decision-making to be embraced in an organization.
"It requires people who can ask the right questions and know how to act on results," notes Mr. Meister. "Also, it's often difficult to find the right technical people to get the analysis executed properly. People with good analytics skills right now are very much in demand."
Cost can also be a factor, he adds. To figure out what types of data could be useful, managers should think about the decisions that they feel "most uncomfortable about," says Mr. Meister.
"Do they find that there are areas where they wished they had a better sense of the effect of previous actions? Start with the big problems that are perhaps solvable with available data. It's never a bad idea to have a brainstorming session and list everything that could use better analytics to improve the quality of decision-making."
According to Mr. Meister, there are lots of companies looking to work with medium and small businesses when it comes to big data solutions, so business owners who have decided to engage a third party should look for a vendor that understands their organization and where they want to go.
"You are choosing a partner, not just a vendor," he notes. "They will need to work with you, as your capabilities and needs evolve. What you can do in 2017 will be a fragment of what you want to do in 2020, and [so] you need someone who will grow with you."
Dell EMC has implemented over 15,000 IT and big data transformations worldwide, Mr. Duffy points out. He recommends Dell EMC's acceleration services for medium and small businesses who are curious about big data technologies or converting their existing data into better insights for decision-making.
"Acceleration services are done in concert with our industry-leading partnerships with companies like [Palo Alto, Calif.—based] Cloudera, the leader in big data and analytics consulting services," says Mr. Duffy. "We identify and prioritize where big data technology can be most valuable and help guide an organization through its digital transformation to become a competitive player in its industry."
Once Dell EMC has established a hypothesis through workshops with its client, it tests that hypothesis in one of the 16 Dell EMC Solution Centers worldwide, which are staffed with subject matter experts in big data and analytics.
"That's where we design, test and verify that we're getting the kind of output the customer is expecting," says Mr. Duffy. It's proof of concept, and free of charge, he notes. "And that allows you to move very confidently to the build or buy phase."
From the perspective of Mr. Meister at Western University, the most important thing for any company to consider before embarking on any kind of big data initiative is the willingness to implement what is learned.
"Value or return only comes from a change in business practice that either generates revenue or cuts costs," says Mr. Meister. "If a company isn't willing to commit to change its business, an analytics initiative is just cost. Value comes from marrying business decisions with analytics to explore options not understood.
"If you think analytics is just going to be that rowing machine that ends up at the curb, don't do it. It needs to become part of your decision-making routine, and that requires a commitment to change."
For more business insights, visit Dell.ca/MediumBusiness
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail’s Globe Edge Content Studio, in consultation with an advertiser. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved in its creation.