How to profit from your company’s ‘data streams’

Companies could create new, revenue-generating services from the “data streams” they produce, but it requires a data-savvy culture and new skills, according to research supported by the Society for Information Management’s Advanced Practices Council.

Unlike classic big-data applications, data streams are real-time flows of digital information thrown off by sensors or other events. Companies can gain value and competitive advantage by exploiting real-time data that is generated either deliberately or as a byproduct of other activities, according to the research paper by academics Gabriele Piccoli and Federico Pigni.

The first step is to determine the feasibility of a data stream service, which depends on how “streamable” the data is, and how complete the data set is, the researchers say. The second step is assessing the potential of the data stream to lead to actual business value. The report presents a Value Potential Matrix to aid that analysis.

But is your company ready to tackle this sort of business venture? It requires a new organizational culture and skill set to extract value from data streams – not just technology. “Our results indicate that companies are better prepared on the technical and data management fronts than the cultural and managerial ones,” the researchers say. The report provides a maturity model to help companies assess their readiness for this new type of business service.

Click on the link below to download the full research report, “Selecting Digital Data Stream Winners.”

The Advanced Practices Council, a program for senior IT professionals, fosters independent research on member-chosen topics. Piccoli holds the Edward G. Schlieder Endowed Chair of Information Sciences at Louisiana State University. Pigni is assistant professor of information systems at the Grenoble Ecole de Management in France.