Unfortunately, big data can be mysterious for many companies. Only 13% of companies with data strategies are meeting the objectives outlined in them. They need to know how to use it effectively to get the most value out of it. This is where big data consultants can become very helpful.
Big Data Consultants Can Make All the Difference for Many Companies
Managing a new business can be as daunting as it is exciting. For that reason, many people choose to run their own companies, tapping into a mixture of expertise and passion to run their own firm. However, when starting up a new business, you must consider using data analysis. Today, there is huge value in having a data-driven expertise. For example, getting assistance in data consulting from experts like this can be a driving force behind long-term business success.
Why, though? Why is data consulting so useful for a new business?
Get insights your competitors lacked
When you start a new business, mistakes can be common as you try and feel your way into the industry. However, competitors likely started with any data pushing them in the right direction. By investing in a data consulting expert, you can find uncover some very important insights within that data which stops you making those early business mistakes.
Your competitors are already involved
Yet, while your competition might not have used data from day one (as you can and should), they will be using it now. So, starting a business without getting insights from a data consultation is a poor idea. It means that you are already behind the kind of insights and ideas that your competition has in mind, making it that bit harder to succeed and thrive.
You need data consultation because without it you are already playing catch-up.
Pinpoint your perfect audience
Any business needs to have an idea of who they are speaking to; without an incredible marketing budget, you cannot afford to try and speak to every potentially interested party. Instead, your company needs to have a clear audience – a target individual you focus on.
Trying to work out who that is, though, can be tough. With data consultation, though, it is easier to pinpoint who your business should be appealing to, assisting your marketing message.
Make your online presence stronger
Another common reason for data analytics is that it can help improve your website development process. Data-driven web design processes can actually help create high-quality custom websites. Every new business needs a website, and making sure it is developed with the correct tags and the correct analytics in place is vital. A data consultancy firm can help perform the analysis that you need so that you can have a very clear understanding who you are talking to. This also refines your online presence so it more naturally speaks to the target audience mentioned above.
Spot performance trends and issues
When your business is run through the lens of looking at profit and profit alone, problems can begin to form. You miss out on the little trends and opportunities that could, in the right hands, take your business to a whole new level of quality.
By using data consulting and analytics, though, you become far more likely to spot these little hidden trends squirreled away within the data.
Running a business is tough; starting a new business is tougher still. By implementing the right practices from day one, though, you can begin to adjust your business correctly. The first days of a new company are never easy; this, though, makes those early days more positive, productive and improves your chance of hitting the ground running. Do not sleep on the use of data analytics – it can be a game-changer, even for a fledgling firm.
It’s safe to say that IoT devices have made our lives much easier and more convenient. This new technology has changed the way people conduct their work in the office, but also how they use gadgets at home. The fact that all smart devices in the office or at home can be connected makes life much easier. However, this also exposes those devices to cyber and hacker attacks. This is exactly why today we are going to talk about the simple ways you can protect IoT devices from cyber-attacks. Here’s what you have to do.
The Famous IoT Attacks You Should Know About
A lot of people have doubts about the IoT hacker attacks. In fact, they don’t believe in them. However, those attacks are not a conspiracy theory, they’ve actually happened and you have to know how to protect yourself from them. Here are a few examples of famous IoT hacker attacks you should know about.
The Mirai Crackdown on Dyn – happened in 2016 and hackers violated a reputable Domain Name Service provider’s computer network called Dyn. Back in the day, Dyn was the DNS provider for companies like Twitter, Netflix, Reddit, CNN, and The Guardian.Thermo-access to a casino – this was an IoT hack attack committed by a group of hackers who found a security loophole in the form of a thermometer installed in the casino’s aquarium. Once they hacked into the casino’s network, the hackers were able to get the casino’s sensitive data.
The IoT attacks are real and here are a few ways you can protect your gadgets.
Make Sure to Change Default Router Settings
When you get a new router, the manufacturer sets the name of the router and the default password. This is meant to be a temporary solution until you find a new name and a password for your new gadget. However, a lot of people forget to change the default settings or choose to keep them. This is not recommended because hackers can easily crack those credentials.
If you want to improve the security of your office or home router, make sure to change the settings. Choose something that makes sense to you, but make sure that is not associated with you. This will make a hacker’s life miserable if he decides to crack the password and put the malware in your IoT devices.
The thing you need to know is this – the network and Wi-Fi are the first defense against hackers. This is simply because many IoT devices are connected to Wi-Fi. Therefore, to protect your IoT devices, it’s recommended that you change default privacy and security settings.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
If you are using IoT devices in the office or at home, there’s a strong possibility that a hacker might try to crack your protection and steal your sensitive and personal information. In order to prevent this, you should use two-factor authentication for all of your accounts where you keep your personal or financial information. This way, even if the hacker manages to crack your password, they won’t be able to get the information because they will need a secret code to log in. This code will be sent to you via SMS. Therefore, if the hacker doesn’t have your phone, they simply can’t log into your accounts. This is one of the simplest ways to protect your IoT gadgets.
Disconnect The IoT Devices When You’re Not Using Them
Most of today’s gadgets have the ability to connect to the internet. This means you can connect your TV and your refrigerator. However, not all of those devices need to be connected to the internet in order to work properly. Having a lot of gadgets connected to the network every single day will provide hackers with more opportunities and more time to crack your protection. This is exactly why you should disconnect the devices that you are not using.
Use Strong Wi-Fi Encryption
As we already said, the home or office router is the gateway between IoT devices you own and the internet. If the router is not secure, your IoT devices and your personal information are exposed to hacker attacks.
Earlier in the post, we stated that you should change the default username and password and set the ones you think are secure. However, this might not be enough to protect you from cyber-attacks. If you want to be better secured, you should also use the strongest encryption on your router. On most routers, this is the WPA2 option. In case your router doesn’t have this encryption, make sure to get the one that does.
Have A Different Password for Every IoT Device?
If a hacker manages to crack your router protection, they might be able to hack every single one of your IoT devices and steal your sensitive and personal information. However, if you want to make their job more complicated, you should definitely have a different password for every IoT device you are using. If you use strong passwords and two-factor authentication, the hacker won’t be able to hack into your accounts. In other words, the fact that they managed to crack your router protection won’t mean a thing. Still, you should try your best to protect your router and if you notice any kind of suspicious behavior, make sure to change the username and password on your router.
Conclusion
The IoT devices have changed our lives for the better and made things much more convenient for us. It doesn’t matter if you use IoT gadgets in the office or at home, you know how many benefits they offer. However, if you want to protect those devices from cyber-attacks, you have to do the things we mentioned today. Change the default settings on your router, use two-factor authentication, disconnect the IoT devices when you’re not using them, use strong Wi-Fi encryption, and have different passwords for your IoT devices. If you do this, you won’t have to worry about hackers.
As a small business owner, you might think that data reporting and analytics don’t matter in your organization. You could be mistaken for thinking there’s too little data to report and analyze and that you can’t possibly have access to the powerful analytics tools that large businesses have.
However, if you’re a small business owner looking to scale and grow, smart technology can revolutionize the way you view and understand your business. There are specialist management apps for every business niche, and utilizing them is the first step to scaling your operations and being able to acquire new business. For example, field service companies such as those engaged in landscaping, will be interested in software programs that can give insight into how they can schedule more visits and appointments per day and report on payments and invoicing. If you run a landscaping company, apps like this one from Jobber will do exactly this, and in doing so, actively help you run and grow your business.
What Are Reporting and Analytics Tools
Reporting and analytics tools help businesses track performance data so they can make decisions that will positively impact their company’s growth. This could be, for example, tracking the number of visitors on your website or looking at how much revenue you can collect from an advertising platform.
Reporting tools come in different forms. They can be the usual spreadsheets and dashboards that provide company data, or they can come in complex forms that take advanced programming knowledge and skills to build.
On the other hand, analytics tools go beyond reporting. These tools look at the relationship among data and provide historical, current, and predictive views of your business’ performance. Analytics usually come with reporting because interpretation and insight generation won’t be possible without any data.
Both tools are innovative, and they can give you insights that are hard to achieve with personal observations or gut feelings. All of this information can prove valuable to your business’s growth journey.
Here are other ways that reporting and analytics tools can benefit your small business.
1. It helps influence business owners to make better decisions
Combining what these two can offer, many businesses can utilize them to identify root problems and provide strategies to get them solved. They can also show which aspect of your business is doing well, so you can continue these practices. By using information gathered by your reports and analytics tools, you’ll be able to make better informed decisions based on actual data instead of guesswork. You may even utilize this information to come up with other strategies to help your business grow.
2. It will help save time and resources
Analytical tools with reports can help make business strategies more targeted, and thereby, more efficient. This will also help to save time and resources that you’ll likely waste creating reports from scratch and conducting longer meetings.
Also, using big data in marketing and other promotional campaigns have a more stable foundation, and therefore higher chances of success. It’s because you don’t have to rely on assumptions that may or may not be right. With data-driven decisions, your business can eliminate the hit-and-miss strategy that some companies employ. Analytical information can also help companies feel confident about venturing into locations or systems previously unknown or unused without losing much budget.
3. It can facilitate productive communication
Once you have learned what all your data means, ensure to communicate this to all relevant stakeholders to better guide strategic decision making.
4. It can enhance business efficiency
Entrepreneurs know a few truths about small businesses—the need to multitask due to a limited number of employees and at most times, tight budgets. Some are even run by solo entrepreneurs burning the midnight oil to make sure that all aspects of their businesses are covered. (1)
This is why reporting and analytics tools are more critical for small businesses. These tools offer automation for otherwise time-consuming tasks and can also help employees and business owners focus on what matters most. Since information is readily available for their evaluation, they know which areas need more improvement and the tactics that are working and worth keeping as a result.
5. It can contribute to better customer satisfaction
As mentioned earlier, analytics can provide prediction and interpretation, which can help you solve a problem even before customers encounter them. By making business and analytics tools a part of your business strategy, you can improve customer service. In return, this increases the likelihood that customers are satisfied, increasing their brand loyalty. With brand loyalty, you can ensure that your customers will consistently buy from you as statistics show that 60-70% of purchases come from existing customers. (2)
Another benefit of these tools in building customer satisfaction is their ability to improve personalization, which helps in customer engagement and loyalty. Analyzed data from previous transactions can help companies develop products and suggestions catered to the needs of a specific customer. This can make clients feel that their needs are understood. (3)
Conclusion
Reports and analytics tools can help your organization improve its decision-making process and communication capabilities. In addition, they can also help you provide better customer satisfaction and improve your company’s efficiency. All these benefits can eventually lead to your business becoming more efficient and being able to scale operations which is an essential requirement if your company is to experience success and growth.
It is believed that the retail sector will irreversibly decline in the future. This is primarily due to the growing popularity of e-commerce. In the U.K., 85,000 jobs disappeared from the retail sector in the first quarter of 2018, and about 30,000 retailers reported financial difficulties.
Despite the partly negative overall picture, global retailer revenue continues to grow, up 4.1% from prior periods as of 2018. And even with the growing pace of e-commerce, many sales are still made in conventional stores. What role does artificial intelligence play in this, and how does artificial intelligence affect the speed of retail evolution?
Expanding access to AI is not a global problem, but its use in retail is most often hampered by regulatory issues of the system itself, their technical side. Experts dispel the current fear of whether retailing could disappear altogether. People will always want to buy something, which means retailers will never be out of work.
At this point, the proliferation of online shopping has not yet reached a large scale, which is not a cause for concern. It is known that 85% of sales are still made in conventional stores. This is due to the fact that customers prefer to examine and touch the thing they want to buy. And many customers just like the feeling of walking through a store.
Another big disadvantage of e-commerce is that not all customers these days know how to buy online, and so to meet their needs, many online stores open traditional stores.
Production
Once trained in the expected quality of products, artificial intelligence will be able to do the customization, distribution and workflow management at factories. This will of course ensure a higher product quality.
There will also be less rejected products and packaging. Everything will be done based on a repeatable algorithm. Artificial intelligence can accurately calculate and specify the levels of raw materials and products needed for production. And all of this can be done in a fraction of a second, without stopping other processes in production. AI can also deal with testing and identifying defective products.
Automation
Today, property taxes and the cost of living are going up, which means that retail business owners are spending more and more money each year to pay each employee. And the introduction of artificial intelligence in the company can help solve these problems by reducing unnecessary employees. This approach would allow for more efficient staffing management, automated warehouses, and the involvement of chatbots. If we don’t take the existing traditional business online, the outlook for the next five years will not be bright. There are, of course, downsides to digitalization, such as the need to rebuild infrastructure around new data. Some retailers use outdated accounting systems, or different systems in each store in the chain. The main challenge in such a case is to collect data in a single repository.
The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Many companies refuse to implement AI because quick and big profits are important for business, and Artificial Intelligence is a long-term project that will bring a lot of profit in the future, but to begin with you need to consider the cost of IT specialists, maintenance and upgrades because it needs to consider the cost of maintaining AI.
Accurate demand forecasts
AI is a very powerful advantage of your business over competitors because demand forecasts created by machine learning are more accurate and cheaper. It is they help to understand what products are more attractive to the customer and save on ordering certain products.
Conclusion
The future of retailing is closely connected with the introduction of artificial intelligence. Experts also say that in the near future we can expect smart dressing rooms and virtual shelves displaying products that people can buy, taking into account their shopping history.
Artificial intelligence technology is shaking up the way companies operate. More companies than ever are finding clever ways to utilize AI technology to streamline their operations, boost their ROIs and solve common challenges that are facing their industries.
One of the best ways to use AI technology to benefit your business is by creating great mobile apps. Countless companies are finding ways to optimize their mobile business strategy with AI. This is best implemented when you use AI to create a great app that can help your customers interact with your brand.
Benefits of Using AI Technology to Create the Perfect App for Your Business
AI technology can help you create an amazing app that will help serve the customers of your business. Here are six huge benefits of creating a wonderful app that has been developed with AI technology.
1. Increase Your Business’s Visibility
According to statistics, most American adults spend almost 4 hours on their mobile devices. Therefore, most of these people use applications on their mobile devices.
People have to unlock and scroll their mobile devices to find the apps they want to open. If they have your business app, they are more likely to see your app as they scroll their mobile device. They might never forget your company’s logo.
You will have an easier time maintaining visibility if you make sure that your app is as engaging as possible. AI technology can help make your app more interesting and even personalize content to keep people using it as much as possible.
Apps that rely on AI technology can also be excellent for marketing. They are able to understand the unique needs and interests of your customers and make sure that marketing messages are customized to their tastes.
You can use apps for different purposes, including providing news feeds, search features, prices, general info, booking forms, messengers, user accounts, and many more.
You can, therefore, use a mobile app that relies on AI technology to provide different information to your customers. In addition, you can use your app to market your business. For instance, you can provide special sales and promotions on your app.
You can even use push notifications to directly interact with your customers. So, use your app to remind your customers about your services and products.
3. Provide More Value
If you have a loyalty program, you can digitalize it. Want to reward your local customers? Do not just send them cards. Your customers can collect rewards through your mobile app.
If your customers can get their rewards immediately, they are more likely to remain loyal to your business. They can get their rewards on their mobile devices.
You can use AI algorithms to make sure that rewards are properly delivered to customers as they need.
4. Build Your Brand
You can use a mobile app to build your brand. It is cheap to use a mobile app to build a brand. You do not have to spend a lot of money on advertising.
Here is how mobile apps can help you build your brand:
Brand – You are free to design your mobile app the way you want. So, you can make your mobile app informative, bold, functional, hip, or stylish. In addition to creating a beautiful mobile app, you need to add the best features to your mobile app. If your customers love the features, they are more likely to remain loyal to your brand.
Recognition – If potential customers can use your mobile app regularly, they are more likely to purchase your products or services. This is known as “effective frequency” in advertising. In summary, if someone hears and/or sees a brand around 20 times, they can truly notice the brand.
5. Improving Customer Engagement
It is crucial to make it easy for potential customers to reach you. It doesn’t even matter if you sell spa services or flowers. If your customers can contact you from your mobile app, they are more likely to trust you. If they trust you, they can buy your products and services. Speak to your mobile app developer about what you require from your business app.
The good news is that AI technology can be immensely helpful with boosting engagement. For example, OpenTable used this principle to build its business model. Customers do not have to call the restaurant to book a table. They can just use their mobile app to book a table.
Many small businesses do not use mobile apps, so you can use mobile apps to beat your competitors and be smarter. If you are the first one to create a mobile app for potential customers, you can beat your competitors. In fact, you are more likely to impress your customers.
We have frequently talked about the merits of using big data for B2C businesses. One of the reasons that we focus on these sectors is that there is so much data on consumers, which makes it easier to create a solid business model with big data.
However, data analytics technology can be just as useful with regards to creating a successful B2B business. Business-to-business companies need to understand their customers and market to them just as effectively .
One of the benefits of data analytics in B2B marketing is with using digital signage. Digital signage has always been effective for improving marketing, but it can be even more useful when used in conjunction with data analytics tools.
Data Analytics Helps Companies Create More Effective Digital Signage Marketing Strategies
For B2B companies, digital signage may not be the first thing that comes to mind when developing a marketing strategy. However, many businesses in this sector can benefit from this form of marketing, which has been steadily growing in popularity. Businesses spent almost $21.5 billion on digital signage in 2020 alone. It can be even more useful if you use it with big data.
The first step to getting started with digital signage is to develop your content strategy. Data analytics technology can help immensely at this and all subsequent stages.
Set Goals and Develop a Strategy with Data Mining
For digital signage to be successful, you must set goals and develop a strategy. This is one of the most important ways that big data can help. What is the purpose of your signage?
Do you want to improve corporate communicationAre you looking to show business intelligence tools?Do you want to internal market your brand?Do you want to advertise products and services?Are you looking to provide wayfinding?
For most B2B companies, the primary purpose of digital signage will be to attract new customers and engage your own employees. Whatever your goals may be, make sure that you write them down so that you have a way to measure your progress.
You may not need to use data mining to outline your goals, but you will probably need this technology to conceptualize them. You can use data mining technology to learn more about the challenges and obstacles that you will encounter, which is going to be important for the next steps.
Placement and content will be two vital things to consider when investing in digital signage. For example, shopping malls may not be the best location for B2B digital signage, but metro stations and convention centers may be a good fit.
Data mining technology can help you learn more about the different places your digital signage can be used. You can learn more about the foot traffic, regional demographics and other relevant factors about various venues, so you can use it appropriately.
As part of your strategy development, you’ll need to better understand your target customers and their behavior. Demographic data can be especially useful in this regard. Your message needs to be seen by decision-makers, and getting to know them will help you find the best place to install your signs.
So, in order to make your digital signage strategy a reality, here are the steps you should follow:
Leverage Digital Tools and Machine Learning to Create Engaging Content
In order to bring in new customers or achieve your goals, your digital signs must display content that will appeal to your target audience. This is one of the ways that big data technology can help.
First, it’s crucial to find digital signage networks that will allow you to display your content the way you envision. The right platform will make it easy for you to set up your signage and display images, text, video – whatever content you’re investing in.
As for the content itself, it’s important to understand your audience. You should use data analytics technology to learn as much about them as possible, so you can craft content that will resonate with them. Invest in content that will appeal to them. Machine learning technology can help immensely with the content generation process. In the B2B sector, this typically means creating content that focuses on their pain points and how your products/services can solve them.
Your content can come in the form of:
Graphics that are eye-catching. They can include behind-the-scenes photos, images that showcase your business or even before and after photos. We recommend leveraging tools like Canva to create graphics that impress. Videos. People love video content, and even in the B2B sector, they can be appealing to target audiences. Videos that demonstrate your product/service and its results can be very effective.Customer testimonials. Want to win over the trust of your target customers? Incorporate customer testimonials or reviews in your content for social proof and credibility. Find a digital signage provider that offers a quote app to create content in minutes.
Regardless of the type of content that you create, big data and AI can help you create it more effectively. Platforms like Canva use sophisticated AI and data-driven design algorithms to create the best possible content for marketers. No matter what type of content you create, it’s vital to ensure that:
All digital images are of high qualityVideos are engaging and also of high quality
As a general rule of thumb, you want to avoid looping the same videos and images repeatedly.
The Proof Is In the Reports
Digital signage is a powerful communication tool and it’s important to show management teams the impact of digital signage. There are two methods we suggest:
Proof of Play Reports. Detailed proof of play reports and campaign reporting will show a detailed view of what is working, and what content changes should be made. Gain insight into the screen location and name, the impressions, timestamps, and number of plays. Business Intelligence Tools. Find a digital signage provider that offers a secure BI tool to display that visualization data. This is a powerful app and can help your business visualize performance across all your marketing campaigns.
Create Playlists and Schedules
Digital signage software allows you to create playlists. These are the order by which you want content to appear on your digital signage displays. Playlists and schedules work together to ensure that the content you want is played in the order and at the time that you want.
For example, your images, videos or messages can change depending on the time of day, season or even the weather. Having fresh content throughout the day can be a great way to keep your audience engaged and prevent decision-makers from becoming “blind” to your ads or content.
When using digital signage for your B2B company, ensure that you’re taking advantage of playlists and scheduling features. AI tools have made this much easier than ever.
Engage Your Audience with Calls to Action
To make your digital signage more effective, make sure that you include calls to action (CTAs) in your content. CTAs tell your target audience what to do next – call, text, email, walk in to learn more.
Because you will only have the viewer’s attention for a brief second or two, it’s essential to make sure that your message is short and memorable. The desired action should also be as easy as possible for customers to do. For example, you can encourage decision-makers to follow your B2B company on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. From here, they can learn more about your business and what you offer.
Data analytics can help with the calls to action. You can use automated split-testing tools to see how various CTAs perform and optimize accordingly.
Assess and Adjust
Once you have your digital signage campaign up and running, it’s vital to assess the results by looking at data analytics tools and adjust as necessary.
Over time, you may need to change your playlist or even move your signage to a new location. Adjusting and assessing as necessary will help you maximize the results of your campaign.
Text mining and text analysis are relatively recent additions to the data science world, but they already have an incredible impact on the corporate world. As businesses collect increasing amounts of often unstructured data, these techniques enable them to efficiently turn the information they store into relevant, actionable resources.
Text analysis can fulfill multiple roles in the business world. Many prominent use cases span categorization and sentiment analysis. It’s all about revealing patterns and knowledge in potentially unintelligible data.
While text analytics and mining remain fledgling technologies, they are already helping businesses in numerous impressive ways.
1. Boosting Cybersecurity
It’s famously impossible to become 100% secure against cyber threats and data breaches. When large companies with technology as their centerpiece struggle to prevent leaks and attacks, smaller businesses with fewer resources are even more vulnerable. With over 2,000 cyberattacks every day, companies of all sizes are at risk.
However, text analytics can help in numerous ways, not least real-time protection. Corporate cyberdefenses produce massive amounts of data through logs and reports. Text analytics can help identify patterns and weak spots much more quickly than any human and often more efficiently than dedicated security software.
2. Enhanced Client Management
Big data and client communication go hand in hand. Businesses and their clients produce massive amounts of information, much of which rarely sees the light of day. From emails and chatbots to support tickets and social media interactions. Text analytics can aid businesses in determining what their general customer base expects, identify potential issues before they become unmanageable, and understand the general sentiment towards their brand.
Text analytics will also become a crucial component of most CRM systems. Once they grow to thousands of records in size, the technology could establish itself as the best way to interpret and arrange data in the future.
3. Public Relations
Using text analytics to measure sentiment can extend beyond what existing customers think. For example, brand and reputation management has never been more critical, especially in a world where a string of bad reviews can render a small business obsolete.
Over 90% of online consumers consult reviews before making a purchasing decision, and they’re often outside a company’s direct control.
This example illustrates that text analytics can involve more than just a brand’s own data. With the right technology in place, brands can monitor social media, chat rooms, forums, and review sites to understand where their reputation stands in online conversation.
The inherent efficiency of text mining means that it’s possible to follow much more than a human or basic software could. For example, it’s possible to process and find patterns in everything from the primary brand name to specific products, executives, and anything else related to the business.
Once again, text mining parses and processes large amounts of data and comes into its own when identifying patterns and anything else notable in the data collected.
4. Lead Generation
Text analytics can be configured to not only help nurture existing client relationships but to identify entirely new ones. While only publicly viewable information is of use here, text mining can sift through the reams of unstructured data produced on social media each day to discover where a business can meet a need.
This can be as simple as a solitary tweet where someone is interested in a product. But, conventionally, the relatively few companies that pursue leads based on tweets would have to rely on hashtags and mentions even to become aware of their products being discussed.
Text analytics can outdo even the most feature-packed social media tools, not least because it can identify general terms and interpret the context. For example, when someone shows interest on social media, they might do so without knowing that a specific company sells a product or provides a service. Text analytics platforms can identify a need, no matter how vague, and inform sales and marketing teams of a potential addition to their audience.
5. Recruitment
Developments in technology and particularly artificial intelligence haven’t all been met with acclaim in the recruitment industry. The increased use of screening software and filters that rely on keywords has enforced homogenization of sorts in resume submissions. In effect, people have to carry out the equivalent of search engine optimization on job applications to stand any chance of even being seen by a real person.
However, similar technology can aid businesses in more exciting ways than just saving time for hiring managers. It’s very similar to the lead generation use case but focuses more on discovering the best possible employees.
For example, one of the best times to find the best employees is before they land in the broader recruitment market. Less competition means a greater chance of finding the best talent quicker, and text analytics can identify great candidates from the mere mention of considering a new challenge.
In Closing
Brands have access to more data than ever before and are constantly on the lookout for solutions to make that data usable. Text analytics is a highly promising discipline, and early adoption could be just the tip of the iceberg. Ultimately, it will enable companies to monitor virtually any public content across any platform while also making sense of the data to push them towards their business goals.
Used effectively, text analytics will prove a crucial component of utilizing modern brands’ ever-increasing data collection efforts.
Big data has helped companies identify promising cost-saving measures, recruit the best talent, optimize their marketing strategies and realize many other benefits. However, there are a lot of other benefits of big data that have not gotten as much attention. Over overlooked advantage of big data is that it can help improve outsourcing strategies.
Outsourcing is becoming a lot more important than ever. Global companies spent over $92.5 billion outsourcing tasks in 2019. Smart companies realize that the right outsourcing strategy needs to be carefully executed, which requires using technology the right way.
Data-Driven Businesses Are Shifting More Towards Outsourcing Models
The thought of outsourcing some of your business’s responsibilities and functions may have crossed your mind for several reasons. Volume is picking up, an instrumental employee is about to leave, or you’d like to expand but lack expertise. Partnering with independent contractors and outsourcing companies is an effective solution to these scenarios.
Placing everything on the shoulders of an in-house team is sometimes an unrealistic expectation. Outsourcing can give your business access to new knowledge and skills and make your staff’s workloads more manageable. Plus, you might gain access to additional markets and be able to serve your customers better. Small to large companies often benefit from outsourcing in these ways and more.
You will get even more benefits from outsourcing if you incorporate big data technology into it. Here’s why.
Access to Extensive Talent Pipelines with Data Mining
Finding qualified candidates is a challenge for many businesses, especially if the local job market is highly competitive. Nationwide labor shortages can also compound the problem, making it difficult for smaller companies to match larger firms’ higher salaries. Yet every organization needs exceptional talent to fill the shoes of essential roles.
The good news is that big data technology has helped companies deal with the process of identifying talented employees. Employee networking sites like LinkedIn have massive databases of talented employees that can make it easy for companies to find the professionals they need. These databases are usually used to find full-time employees, but can useful for outsourcing projects to qualified experts as well.
Having those positions remain empty for months on end puts strain on existing staff. That extra work could turn into additional resignations, leaving a business in jeopardy. By using data mining to assist with outsourcing and hiring in different countries, your company can access a broader range of talent. You won’t limit your pipeline to local labor and will gain the staff you need to keep everything running smoothly.
While hiring outside your business’s home country does carry some added risk, you can minimize this through research of international hiring guides and investing in partnerships. For example, companies that hire international employees sometimes work with a vendor that’s established legal entities in other countries. The hiring business doesn’t have to incur the expenses of doing this. The vendor takes care of the paperwork according to international labor laws, letting you focus on finding skilled workers.
Ability to Concentrate on Core Business Functions
Over a third of small companies outsource at least one business process. Accounting, IT, and digital marketing are the top processes that small businesses outsource. While these are all necessary functions, they may not be the reason your company exists. Perhaps your core function isn’t to troubleshoot computer hardware and software or design ad campaigns. Instead, your area of expertise could be selling books, providing insurance, or creating jewelry.
Outsourcing departments and functions your company needs to run but doesn’t have proficiency in can be more efficient. There won’t be a need to find and hire staff with the know-how. Expensive training won’t be necessary, and you’ll save the time it will take to find qualified staff. In-house employees can direct full attention to sharpening the skills that sparked your business idea and contributed to your growth.
Farming out non-core business functions also gives in-house staff added flexibility. If your company has a few employees wearing multiple hats, they can refocus on core responsibilities. Employees can develop specialties rather than shift between unrelated tasks and attempt to be “jacks of all trades.” Your business will benefit from further skill enhancement and knowledge that aligns with its purpose.
Scale Operations According to Cyclical Activity
One of the other benefits of data analytics is that it can help forecast future business activity. You can use predictive analytics tools to anticipate future sales volume, regulatory issues and much more.
Sales and work volumes are impacted by seasonal demands, economic activities, and product or service life cycles. Some businesses respond to fluctuating staffing needs by hiring temporary workers. But relying on an internal HR department to constantly scale up and down can eventually hurt a company. Your sources of talent could dry up as you become known as a revolving door of unstable employment opportunities.
Outsourcing some of your business’s hiring needs can remove some of this stigma. A vendor supplies the supplemental manpower you need during temporary increases in volume. You could then end your contract with the outsourcer once the volume decreases. An alternative is to keep an active contract going, allowing a vendor to take on added work when it’s available. The outsourcer can redistribute its employees according to changes in your activity.
For example, business outsourcing companies hire the same staff to move between different accounts. In call centers, for instance, an employee might work on two accounts simultaneously. For part of the week, they handle customer service calls for one account. The remainder of the week, they take tech support calls for another account. Both companies get the extra labor they need without worrying about hiring, payroll, onboarding, and retention costs.
You want to use data analytics to both make better outsourcing decisions and understand the future needs of your business. This technology-centric approach will lead to higher quality decision making and help you ensure resources are used appropriately.
Control Operational Costs
Increasing cost efficiency is a primary reason why large organizations decide to outsource. But smaller businesses can also realize cost savings by using data analytics solutions to work with outsourcing companies. This is because some of your fixed expenses can become variable, allowing you to reinvest into your company’s growth.
For instance, you might need an assistant to handle incoming calls, emails, and scheduling. However, that need may not be high enough to justify the expenses of a full-time employee with benefits. You can outsource tasks an employee would normally handle and only pay for the time a virtual assistant works. Your overall overhead will be lower, and if volume drops, you won’t have to lay someone off. If you use a data mining tool to find the right talent to outsource to, then you will get the most bang for your buck.
Short-term or one-off projects are another way outsourcing helps small businesses remain cost-efficient. You’ll save the expense of bringing another employee on board to handle the overflow and stay on budget. You won’t have to divert employees’ time away from other responsibilities, pay overtime, or allocate extra comp days. And you’ll keep your projects and tasks on schedule instead of putting them at risk by stretching internal resources too thin.
The Benefits of Data-Driven Outsourcing Are Clear
Big data is invaluable for many aspects of a company’s operations, including outsourcing various functions. Outsourcing one or more of your company’s departments provides benefits, such as flexibility and cost savings. Using data-driven approaches to business to collaborate with outsourcers adds to internal skills and expertise while expanding whom you can hire to support your operations. Relying on independent contractors and outsourcing companies will help you better manage fluctuating business cycles. Through outsourcing, you can discover added value and develop a longstanding competitive advantage.
Big data technology has been one of the biggest forces driving change in the financial sector over the past few years. Financial institutions servicing small businesses have been among those most affected by developments in big data.
There are a number of data-driven trends shaping the future of small business financial management. This can be most easily observed in the context of small business lending. Many institutions that lend capital to small businesses are relying more heavily on data analytics, AI and other data-driven technology than ever before.
Big Data is the Future of Small Business Lending
We are in the age of data. Every month something amazing, and life changing, comes available on the market. This not only changes the way consumers approach companies, but it has a significant impact on how businesses run. For businesses to run many of them will have to rely on banks, and other lending agencies, to give them loans. Big data has changed the way that many of these lenders handle the actuarial and loan processing.
As companies need bigger loans to cover the costs of technologically improved equipment, banks will have to find ways to include tech advancements when accessing a business for a loan. There are four main data-driven trends that will impact small business lending the most, with many others on the way.
IOT (Internet of Things)-For those of you that already have their heads wrapped around technology, and the lingo that goes along with it, you already know what IOT means. In simple words it is the internet as we know it today. The IOT is one of the biggest breakthroughs in big data technology. Anything that you can ever want, or need, can be found on the internet in numerous areas. If you cannot find the exact article or blog that you are looking for, you will be able to find something close.Ecommerce-Along with the increase of laptops and mobile devices it has been found that the demand for online products and services has grown. As more people work, shop, and even learn online, companies that want to stay ahead of the game must have a plan to dominate in their fields on the web. Looking good in store is now only a small part of owning a profitable business. Your impact on social media sites and internet searches will improve, or break, your cash flow potentials. The ecommerce sector is also relying more extensively on data than ever.Virtual Events-Improved speed, and reliability, in computers and mobile devices makes it possible to have virtual events and meeting. It saves time, and a substantial amount of money, when you compare it to the costs of traveling. Attending a virtual class for school allows you to stay relaxed within your own home, but it will require a device that can keep up with the site giving the class.AI (Artificial Intelligence)-This is a concept that many people think of when they hear about a science fiction story based in the far future. If you look around, though, AI is already present in some businesses and homes. It can speed up production lines, allow for automated contracts to be completed online, and can even help create new products and services by using information that it collects over a small amount of time.
You may be wondering how the growing reliance on big data pertains to loans, especially unsecured business loans. The more tech that you have for your business, the more capital that you have in the eyes of a lender. This will increase your odds in getting a basic loan that has to be secured. You will need to understand the new data-driven algorithms that lenders use and know how to present your business in the best light possible. If your devices and equipment have been up and running for a while, you will have noticed that your cash flow has increased because of the ease at which technology can make your business run.
If the lender does require you to have some type of collateral, your tech equipment will have a decently high value. This will allow you to get a bigger loan than the company down the street that still uses a typewriter and orders products by hand.
Automation will be the way of the future, for lenders as well as businesses, and the public. It will allow you to file for a loan online. Get your response through an email or text. And within hours your money from the loan can be deposited straight into your bank account. This process will become simpler as technology continues to expand. Loans will be easier to qualify for and bigger amounts will be available.
At Google Cloud, we’re focused on solving customer problems while supporting a thriving partner ecosystem. Many of you use third-party monitoring solutions to keep a tab on your multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments, be it for IT operations, security operations, application performance monitoring, or cost analysis. At the same time, you’re looking for a cloud-native way to reliably export your Google Cloud logs, events, and alerts at scale.
In this blog post, we’ll show you how to set up a streaming pipeline to export your Google Cloud logs to Elastic Cloud using the Pub/Sub to Elasticsearch Dataflow template. Using this Dataflow template, you can forward to Elasticsearch any message that can be delivered to a Pub/Sub topic, including logs from Cloud Logging or events such as security findings from Cloud Security Command Center.
The step-by-step walkthrough covers the entire setup, from configuring the originating log sinks in Cloud Logging, to setting up Elastic integration with GCP in Kibana UI, to visualizing GCP audit logs in a Kibana dashboard.
Push vs. Pull
Traditionally, Elasticsearch users have the option to pull logs from Pub/Sub topics into Elasticsearch via Logstash or Beats as a data collector. This documented solution works well, but it does include tradeoffs that need to be taken into account:
Requires managing one or more data collectors with added operational complexity for high availability and scale-out with increased log volume
Requires external resource access to Google Cloud by giving permissions to aforementioned data collectors to establish subscription and pull data from one or more Pub/Sub topics.
We’ve heard from you that you need a more cloud-native approach that streams logs directly into your Elasticsearch deployment without the need to manage an intermediary fleet of data collectors. This is where the managed Cloud Dataflow service comes into play: A Dataflow job can automatically pull logs from a Pub/Sub topic, parse payloads and extract fields, apply an optional JavaScript user-defined function (UDF) to transform or redact the logs, then finally forward to the Elasticsearch cluster.
Set up logging export to Elasticsearch
This is how the end-to-end logging export looks:
Below are the steps that we’ll walk through:
Set up Pub/Sub topics and subscriptions
Set up a log sink
Set IAM policy for Pub/Sub topic
Install Elastic GCP integration
Create API key for Elasticsearch
Deploy Pub/Sub to the Elastic Dataflow template
View and analyze GCP logs in Kibana
Set up Pub/Sub topics and subscriptions
First, set up a Pub/Sub topic that will receive your exported logs, and a Pub/Sub subscription that the Dataflow job can later pull logs from. You can do so via the Cloud Console or via CLI using gcloud. For example, using gcloud looks like this:
Note: It is important to create the subscription before setting up the Cloud Logging sink to avoid losing any data added to the topic prior to the subscription getting created.
Repeat the same steps for the Pub/Sub deadletter topic that holds any undeliverable message, due to pipeline misconfigurations (e.g. wrong API key) or inability to connect to Elasticsearch cluster:
Set up a Cloud Logging sink
Create a log sink with the previously created Pub/Sub topic as destination. Again, you can do so via the Logs Viewer, or via CLI using gcloud logging. For example, to capture all logs in your current Google Cloud project (replace [MY_PROJECT]), use this code:
Note: To export logs from all projects or folders in your Google Cloud organization, refer to aggregated exports for examples of “gcloud logging sink” commands. For example, provided you have the right permissions, you may choose to export Cloud Audit Logs from all projects into one Pub/Sub topic to be later forwarded to Elasticsearch.
The output of this last command is similar to this:
Take note of the service account [LOG_SINK_SERVICE_ACCOUNT] returned. It typically ends with @gcp-sa-logging.iam.gserviceaccount.com.
Set IAM policy for Pub/Sub topic
For the sink export to work, you need to grant the returned sink service account a Cloud IAM role so it has permission to publish logs to the Pub/Sub topic:
If you created the log sink using the Cloud Console, it will automatically grant the new service account permission to write to its export destinations, provided you own the destination. In this case, it’s Pub/Sub topic my-logs.
Install Elastic GCP integration
From Kibana web UI, navigate to ‘Integrations’ and search for GCP. Select ‘Google Cloud Platform (GCP)’ integration, then click on ‘Add Google Cloud Platform (GCP)’.
In the following screen, make sure to uncheck ‘Collect Google Cloud Platform (GCP) … (input: gcp-pubsub)’ since we will not rely on pollers to pull data from Pub/Sub topic, and rather on Dataflow pipeline to stream that data in.
Create API key for Elasticsearch
If you don’t already have an API key for Elasticsearch, navigate to ‘Stack Management’ > ‘API keys’ to create an API key from Kibana web UI. Refer to Elastic docs for more details on Elasticsearch API keys. Take note of the base64-encoded API key which will be used later by your Dataflow pipeline to authenticate with Elasticsearch.
Before proceeding, take also note of your Cloud ID which can be found from Elastic Cloud UI under ‘Cloud’ > ‘ Deployments’.
Deploy Pub/Sub to Elastic Dataflow pipeline
The Pub/Sub to Elastic pipeline can be executed either from the Console, gcloud CLI, or via a REST API call (more detail here). Using the Console as example, navigate to the Dataflow Jobs page, click ‘Create Job from Template’ then select “Cloud Pub/Sub to Elasticsearch” template from the dropdown menu. After filling out all required parameters, the form should look similar to this:
Click on ‘Show Optional Parameters’ to expand the list of optional parameters.
Enter ‘audit’ for ‘The type of logs…’ parameter to specify the type of dataset we’re sending in order to populate the corresponding GCP audit dashboard available in the GCP integration you enabled previously in Kibana:
Once you click “Run job”, the pipeline will start streaming events to Elastic Cloud after a few minutes. You can visually check correct operation by clicking on the Dataflow job and selecting the “Job Graph” tab, which should look as below. In our test project, the Dataflow step WriteToElasticsearch is sending a little over 2,800 elements per second at that point in time:
Now head over to Kibana UI, and navigate under ‘Observability’ > ‘Overview’ to quickly inspect that your GCP audit logs are being ingested in Elasticsearch:
Visualize GCP Audit logs in Kibana
You can now view Google Cloud audit logs from your Kibana UI search interface. Navigate to either ‘Observability’ > ‘Logs’ > ‘Stream’ or ‘Analytics’ > ‘ Discover’, and type the following simple query in KQL to filter for GCP audit logs only:
data_stream.dataset:”gcp.audit”
The above table was produced after selecting the following fields as columns in order to highlight who did what to which resource:
protoPayload.authenticationInfo.principalEmail – Who
protoPayload.methodName – What
protoPayload.serviceName – Which (service)
protoPayload.resourceName – Which (resource)
Open GCP Audit dashboard in Kibana
Navigate to ‘Analytics’ > ‘Dashboards’, and search for ‘GCP’. Select ‘[Logs GCP] Audit’ dashboard to visualize your GCP audit logs. Among other things, this dashboard displays a map view of where your cloud activity is coming from, a timechart of activity volume, and a breakdown of top actions and resources acted on.
But wait, there’s more!
Pub/Sub to Elasticsearch Dataflow template is meant to abstract away the heavy-lifting when it comes to reliably collecting voluminous logs in near real-time. At the same time, it offers advanced customizations to tune the pipeline to your own requirements with optional parameters such as delivery batch size (in number of messages or bytes) for throughput, retry settings (in number of attempts or duration) for fault tolerance, and a custom user-defined function (UDF) to transform the output messages before delivery to Elasticsearch. To learn more about Dataflow UDFs along with specific examples, see Extend your Dataflow templates with UDFs.
In addition to Pub/Sub to Elasticsearch Dataflow template, there are two new Dataflow templates to export to Elasticsearch depending on your use case:
Cloud Storage to Elasticsearch: Use this Dataflow template to export rows from CSV files in Cloud Storage into Elasticsearch as JSON documents.
BigQuery to Elasticsearch: Use this Dataflow template to export rows from a BigQuery table (or results from a SQL query) into Elasticsearch. This is particularly handy to forward billing data by Cloud Billing or assets metadata snapshots by Cloud Asset Inventory, both of which can be natively exported to BigQuery.
What’s next?
Refer to our user docs for the latest reference material on all Google-provided Dataflow templates including the Elastic Dataflow ones described above. We’d like to hear your feedback and feature requests. You can create an issue directly in the corresponding GitHub repo, or create a support case directly from your Cloud Console, or ask questions in our Stack Overflow forum.
To get started with Elastic Cloud on Google Cloud, you can subscribe via Google Cloud Marketplace and start creating your own Elasticsearch cluster on Google Cloud within minutes. Refer to Elastic getting started guide for step by step instructions.
Acknowledgements
We’d like to thank several contributors within and outside Google for making these Elastic Dataflow templates available for our joint customers:
