Today, businesses are collecting more and more information from a myriad of sources. Since everything seems to be online now - or at least in digital format - it's become easier to collect larger swaths of data. The secret, executives are finding, is in how you use the data you're collecting.
Ask any researcher: large reams of data mean nothing if you can't access and organize it. From the student compiling information for a doctoral thesis to the store owner hoping to better target her clientele's market, data is everything. Actually, data collection, storage, access, and manipulation are everything.
This is the modern world we live in and the amount of information coming into a business' database is only going to increase. The trouble is, most DB systems currently being used are incapable of handling large amounts of data. In the industry, we call this 'Big Data' - when there's so much data to be stored and accessed that current systems begin to become unwieldy.
For many businesses, this begins to happen at a time when they can ill afford to bring in DBA staff - even part time. Especially good DB administrators, which are hard to find and do not come cheap. A dedicated DBA can run $80,000 or more per year.
So they look to outsourcing. Luckily, there are many options in this regard, from the all-in-one storage and administration setups to the freelance operators offering part-time solutions. The question is which you need and how you should choose the best you can afford.
What many fail to recognize is that storing and optimizing access to their data is just the beginning. A good DBA can do those things. A great one, however, will also show your staff how to manipulate that data and make it meaningful.
For example, expense reports are one thing. But expense reports coupled with sales receipts and profit-per-sale totals can mean knowing what your actual ROI and profit is - versus just a best guess. Sure, your salesman costs you about $100,000 a year and you know that each sale averages $1,900 in profit. But what about his expenses figured into that? Did he spend an extra $200 in wooing the client? How much was his hotel, food, and mileage during that sale? Good DB manipulation will show you all of that instantly.
That's just one example.
In marketing, it used to be that you could throw an ad into a newspaper, put up a couple of billboards, and maybe send some direct mailers and things were good. Today? Those don't cut it. Today, you have to not just target your market, you have to pinpoint them exactly and then vector in and hit them squarely. Otherwise, you end up with a lot of chaff that earns you nothing.
With great data and manipulation of that data, you can not only find out what your market is doing, but you can target specific segments of it and better handle and please your current clientele at the same time.
This is why businesses are turning to outsourcing and finding experts to run their databases for them. It's the fast-growing trend it is because more and more executives are realizing that to afford the best DBA talent, they have to think outside the 'hire and forget' box.
Ask any researcher: large reams of data mean nothing if you can't access and organize it. From the student compiling information for a doctoral thesis to the store owner hoping to better target her clientele's market, data is everything. Actually, data collection, storage, access, and manipulation are everything.
This is the modern world we live in and the amount of information coming into a business' database is only going to increase. The trouble is, most DB systems currently being used are incapable of handling large amounts of data. In the industry, we call this 'Big Data' - when there's so much data to be stored and accessed that current systems begin to become unwieldy.
For many businesses, this begins to happen at a time when they can ill afford to bring in DBA staff - even part time. Especially good DB administrators, which are hard to find and do not come cheap. A dedicated DBA can run $80,000 or more per year.
So they look to outsourcing. Luckily, there are many options in this regard, from the all-in-one storage and administration setups to the freelance operators offering part-time solutions. The question is which you need and how you should choose the best you can afford.
What many fail to recognize is that storing and optimizing access to their data is just the beginning. A good DBA can do those things. A great one, however, will also show your staff how to manipulate that data and make it meaningful.
For example, expense reports are one thing. But expense reports coupled with sales receipts and profit-per-sale totals can mean knowing what your actual ROI and profit is - versus just a best guess. Sure, your salesman costs you about $100,000 a year and you know that each sale averages $1,900 in profit. But what about his expenses figured into that? Did he spend an extra $200 in wooing the client? How much was his hotel, food, and mileage during that sale? Good DB manipulation will show you all of that instantly.
That's just one example.
In marketing, it used to be that you could throw an ad into a newspaper, put up a couple of billboards, and maybe send some direct mailers and things were good. Today? Those don't cut it. Today, you have to not just target your market, you have to pinpoint them exactly and then vector in and hit them squarely. Otherwise, you end up with a lot of chaff that earns you nothing.
With great data and manipulation of that data, you can not only find out what your market is doing, but you can target specific segments of it and better handle and please your current clientele at the same time.
This is why businesses are turning to outsourcing and finding experts to run their databases for them. It's the fast-growing trend it is because more and more executives are realizing that to afford the best DBA talent, they have to think outside the 'hire and forget' box.
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