4 Dangers Of Ignoring Big Data

As big data become more necessary in many industries, businesses that fail to use it could be hurting themselves big time.


Big data is becoming increasingly prevalent across all sectors, from retail to healthcare and everything in between.

Despite the rising rate of adoption, some business owners are still reluctant to even consider implementing big data analysis methods in their establishments. 

However, by refusing to evolve that way, they could be elevating the risks their companies face and making themselves vulnerable to numerous dangers that could compromise their operations.

1. Failing to notice negative sentiments about a business

In a world dominated by social media, the people who comment the most are often the loudest voices, which could give business leaders skewed perceptions about their companies at large or how consumers feel about particular campaigns.

Big data allows for large-scale sentiment analysis that captures consumer opinions by examining a gigantic collection of feedback, not just what people are saying in the most prominent places.

Staying on top of sentiment analysis with the help of big data allows for the taking decisive action to prevent negativity from getting worse. It also allows companies to pick up on whether consumers might have incorrect assumptions, permitting business representatives to intervene and clarify.

If businesses don’t have access to big data, they might never notice the less-than-glowing opinions people have — or seize opportunities to change them.

2. Not being able to build strong customer relationships

Technological advancements have made it possible to urge people to buy things based on their behaviors. Amazon does that regularly, and now many other companies display 'You might also like' sections to online shoppers.

Big data makes it possible to improve those kinds of recommendations, but it also goes further to promote better relationships between companies and customers.

In addition to the enhanced personalization strategies big data provides, companies can check out the aspects that may be causing customer frustration.

For example, representatives might discover an online payment process becomes difficult midway through, or realize millennials are more likely to browse for items when large photos accompany product descriptions.

Taking all those things into account makes it easier to understand what customers genuinely want, and how to keep them coming back. Then, customer relationships get stronger and existing loyalty deepens. Without big data, companies are at risk of too much costly and time-consuming guesswork that may not pay off in terms of better profits.

3. Missing evidence of the company’s impending failure

Most people are aware of cases where businesses that were apparently thriving quickly shut down, leaving customers feeling bewildered.

Because big data looks at changes over time instead of just short-term data, it could be instrumental in showing business leaders things are going wrong and that the business could soon falter without remedial action.

If you aren’t actively collecting and monitoring your business’s data, you run the risk of missing out on chances to make informed decisions, which could eventually prove fatal for your company.

There is no magic combination of factors that ensure a business’ success. However, one of the significant advantages of big data is that it helps people make smart decisions.

After assessing the available data, business leaders are better able to see accurate pictures of their companies’ health, which could help them avoid disastrous consequences.

4. Leaving a company vulnerable to fraud and scammers

Whereas businesses that were part of the marketplace a few decades ago didn’t need to worry about cybercriminals, online crime has become rampant in recent years. Statistics from the Identity Theft Resource Center indicate there were 1,579 data breaches in 2017 and approximately 179 million records compromised, and the totals have climbed through the years.

Big data can highlight recurring issues in a company’s infrastructure that could leave the entity more at risk for fraud attempts or other cybercriminal activity. For example, big data analytics can establish a baseline, then draw attention to characteristics that could indicate fraud or make it more likely to occur. Some big data analytics platforms also regularly monitor network traffic and give notifications when things seem out of the ordinary.

When companies ignore the fraud detection capabilities big data can offer, the representatives associated with them unnecessarily increase the likelihood of fraud incidences or other scams.

Cybercriminals know they must evolve to continually orchestrate successful attacks. If company leaders don’t do the same by tapping into big data, the ramifications could be extraordinarily costly and attract media attention that damages corporate reputations and encourages customer doubts.

Businesses often balk at the expenses involved with starting to use big data or the potentially time-consuming process of researching and following best practices for information storage and use that keep consumer protections in mind.

However, those potential downsides pale in comparison to the dangers companies could deal with if they conclude big data is a technological offering not worth their time.


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