5.2 HD-business and the fundamental role of data

I have insisted on the central role of current and correct data for business in the digital age multiple times in this blog. As all of this sounds (and in fact is) very technical I want to illustrate what I have in mind with another comparison.

Think of the very first black & white televisions in the middle of the last century. The pictures oftentimes were blurry and the sound quality was poor. Now compare them to today’s state-of-the-art devices with high definition pictures, surround sound and interactive second screen features. And all of that for an affordable price. Would you want to go back?

 Enterprises need to ask themselves what kind of picture they have from the customers who buy their products and services. In many companies that I know it will look like the one on the left side: blurry, with many information missing – you can’t even guess the gender of some of the faces correctly.

Digital companies strive for the picture on the right: Precise information on customers and their buying behaviors, even anticipating what they want to do next. This is what I call “high definition business”. The point is that you cannot get from left to right without more precise data. Interpolating something will lead to best guesses but there might be a competitor who possesses better data on your customers. And that is where he will attack you.