Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Ahuge number of companies are leveraging big data to improve their business. They come from multiple niches – from fashion to space exploration, and businesses are diving deep on using big data to solve problems. The expression used to be “show me the numbers”but, now, all anyone wants to  know is “what does the data say?”

Data has achieved a mythical status inside boardrooms around the world. Executives peer into spreadsheets like diviners staring at tea leaves. But very few companies leverage data properly, and even fewer have the best tools available for discerning truth among the numbers. That is exactly what Asaf Yigal, co-founder ofLogz.io, has staked his reputation on: analyzing big data.

“When it comes to data, more is only better if you are capable of deciphering it,” says Yigal. “That is what my company does – we provide tools for collecting and deciphering massive volumes of data.”

Generally speaking, startups are working on a budget. They have a defined amount of capital dedicated to developing a product or service. When that money runs out, there may not be any more at all. That is where Yigal sees big data being particularly important for startups: achieving ultimate efficiency and cost-saving.

Think of a startup that has launched an app but, despite having thousands of registered users, it is underperforming. Maybe it is not being used enough, or it is not being shared with new users, or users are not even using the app for its designed purpose.

Without incredibly precise data about traffic through the app, on both a macro and micro level, solving the problem would just be guesswork – and guesswork (flatteringly called troubleshooting) has worked for decades. But in today’s competitive world of startups and particularly with limited budgets, troubleshooting can be deadly. Yigal says of this process:

“The only way to remove guesswork from problem solving is to track and record every event that takes place on a software, application, or network, depending on the company’s requirement. Every click, every key stroke, and a million other factors need to be logged, intelligently processed, and then given to humans to analyze.”

The result of thorough diagnostics is pin point accurate solutions. Maybe you will find that users are not using the app because they do not understand a certain function, and you need a video showing them how to use it. Or maybe the navigation is not intuitive and you need to adjust the user interface to be more fluid. These and a million other pitfalls regularly swallow startups, long before they figure out what is hurting their product.

Companies of all sizes periodically find themselves on the losing end of consumer engagement. Facebook has recently admitted that their network has seen a precipitous drop in use over the last year, and a recent Princeton study forecasts a decline of 80% by 2017. Pundits can make a lot of assertions about what is causing the slump, but ultimately it will be a massive data analysis operation that paves the way forward for Facebook.

Yigal and Logz.io are pioneering advancements in that field, one that stands to become more important very soon, particularly with the rise of the Internet of Things and machine learning. Winning the data battle will be a key piece in winning the war.

This article was originally published on www.tech.co.com and can be viewed in full

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