Anyone for real-time data?

Anyone for real-time data?

I've been to a couple of conferences recently where there's been a lot of chat – both on and off stage – about real-time data.

I've got to get my data delivered in real-time (apparently), because it's super-duper important.

I agree – it is super-duper important. What’s much less clear from all the seminars, keynotes and conversations, is why exactly.

Real-time analytics?

Nah, not for me.

A bunch of people spoke about real-time analytics; how they instigated expensive (and expansive) initiatives to get data into the hands of analysts instantly.

That feels like spending a million quid on a super-car just to sit in rush-hour traffic.

Real-time data does not equate to real-time analytics. In fact, I think “real-time analytics” is an oxymoron. Once we give data to a human to analyse, it’s not real-time anymore. Even machines are trained on historic data sets.

What’s it all for then?

It comes to a more fundamental point: why collect data at all? Hopefully, so we can take action from it.

So why would that data need to be real-time? Logically, because the action needs to be taken in real-time too.

For example?...

At Sky, we deliver real-time one-to-one personalisation. By that I mean; what we know about an individual at a given moment and how that informs the experience we deliver for them in the same moment.

Ok, perhaps I’ve fallen into a fog of vague buzz-wordery there.

What about a hypothetical corner shop? A tin of baked beans gets scanned; we’re now down to our last 10 tins out front, and our last 30 tins in the back. The scan triggers an automatic prompt to tell the shop keeper to put more tins out front, and orders more beans from the wholesaler.

What’s your point?

A lot of the conferences, seminars and keynotes I’ve seen recently (at best) make things seem much more confusing than they are, and (at worst) give what I consider to be bad advice.

“Real-time one-to-one personalisation” is great, but we might actually be talking about baked beans.

At its most basic level, what action do I want to take in real-time, and what data do I need to do it? That’s my real-time data initiative.

Emily Osborne

EMEA Strategy Lead at AWS

5 年

Interesting!

Rob McLaughlin

Founder x2 | Exits x1 | 1st Party Data | Addressable Advertising | Cloud Native Applications | Bias-for-action

5 年

Bang in Matt. Being clear on the 'why' is so key. Real-time data for real-time experiences.

Brett Gibson

Leading Global RevOps. Help build a business that helps to people people and the planet.

5 年

Great post! But - real-time! Who wouldn't want it if it were on offer?? You're right, the focus is on what actions get taken from it? - Real-time for personalisation makes sense, it can make an impact on a customer's experience?? - Real-time for campaign spend allocation? Meh. My experience - people ask for real-time because they've been indoctrinated to think that if it's not? real-time,? the alternative is having to wait until end of the day/week/month to get data. Which might be too long when it really is needed, so it might be easier to spec up front and have it when they need it. As long as it's not their money, right!?? Data is valuable when it's timely for the cadence of the decisions being made. If I want to see the data now, I should be able to get it, and otherwise an hourly/daily refresh is often enough. And if I get used to data on-demand, I'll never give it up! But requests for real-time are either thoughtlessness as it's just easy to ask for it, or choosing between what they think are the only two options.?

Paddy Meehan

Experienced Lean Practitioner and Strategic Leader

5 年

A good read Matt??

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