Leveraging digital exhaust
Transforming data from exhaust to insight
Carbon exhaust from the combustion of fuel has negative connotations. It pollutes the environment and there are few effective ways to turn this into a useful by-product.
But all exhaust is not negative or even inadvertent. For example, exhaust powers steam engines. As another example, vaporized water is explicitly generated and captured in the distillation water purification processes.
Increasingly, data exhaust is collected from business processes and transformed into a valuable source of business information, often generating even more data in doing so.
As beneficial as these uses are, it is not without negative externalities. Issues of data privacy and data ownership arise. Power and wealth accumulates to those who are able to effectively leverage it, potentially unfairly compomising those without availability of comparable data.
Data is the fuel of advancement
It is broadly said "Data is the new oil", recognizing that essentially it powers new business processes dependent on predictive analytics, automation, and AI. Having and leveraging data, provides power and insight to the holder.
But data is not like oil in many ways. It is not a finite resource which is consumed. In fact, it becomes ever more powerful with use, more like monster dough. You feed it and it grows ever bigger and more valuable.
Leveraging digital exhaust
Effective operating models in the digital era feature integrated capabilities incorporating customer-centric process digitization, advanced analytics, and holistic coordination.
Most innovative, forward thinking organizations today recognize that data provides strategic insight and business advantages.
Data driven discovery provides actionable intelligence that can, and is, leveraged to improve client relationships, increase revenue and operational efficiencies, and recognize and mitigate risks.