How to Monetize Data in Five Steps
Data services as an up-selling tactic and add-on product will become a mainstream trend next year, according to Forrester Research.
It’s just one aspect of what the research firm calls the emerging “data economy.”
We’re already seeing the beginning of a data economy, Forrester contends in a recent Information Management column. The term “data economy” is self-describing: It’s a system that “provides for the exchange of digital information to create new insights and value,” the firm explains.
Next year, Forrester contends that digitization, mobile technology, the Internet of Things and “Hadooponomics” will all collide to shift the data economy into mainstream adoption. As a result, there will be demand for information, but there will also be a rush to provide it, both to other businesses and as services to end users and customers.
Those assumptions provide the basis for two predictions:
1. Data services will be the new “must-have add-on to product sales.” In urban lore, McDonald’s is the poster child for the add-on sale, with its “Do you want fries with that” refrain once asked after every order. Now, rather than asking whether we want to “supersize” or add fries, the most common up sale in 2015 will be “Do you want data services with that,” Forrester predicts.
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about that, considering that my phone once cost me $15 a month but now costs around $95, thanks in part to add-on services.
2. Data scientists will find ways to peddle algorithms in the same way developers sell apps now. “Data analysts and data scientists will publish application programming interfaces (APIs) to Azure Marketplace web services, making insights all the more accessible,” Forrester foresees. “Consumer analysts will accelerate time-to-value by searching and buying APIs related to their areas of need, rather than researching and building them.”
The full Forrester report is $499, but the column is free to read.
The Hackett Group Seeks Feedback on Key IT Challenges
Is data always on your mind? Are you worried more about compliance than recruitment in the coming year?
The Hackett Group would like to hear from IT executives for its 2015 Key Issues Performance Study, an online survey about your top priorities for the coming year. In exchange, you’ll receive a complementary copy of the results, giving you early insight into:
- How your priorities compare with other IT organizations
- Advice about overcoming barriers
- The business landscape in 2015 for the broader enterprise
The 2014 Key Issues study identified turning data into insights as one of the key IT challenges. It also showed that IT divisions were focused on innovation-based growth in the face of business volatility and risk concerns.
To take the survey, simply register here with basic user information — you will need a business email — and answer the questions online. You can also download the questions for review.
Loraine Lawson is a veteran technology reporter and blogger. She currently writes the Integration blog for IT Business Edge, which covers all aspects of integration technology, including data governance and best practices. She has also covered IT/Business Alignment and IT Security for IT Business Edge. Before becoming a freelance writer, Lawson worked at TechRepublic as a site editor and writer, covering mobile, IT management, IT security and other technology trends. Previously, she was a webmaster at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and a newspaper journalist. Follow Lawson at Google+ and on Twitter.
