Composition of Data Products

Let's talk about the forms of Data Products and why companies need help to build usable ones.

Most organizations think sharing raw data from their source systems qualifies as a usable data product. However, this is far from the truth. Most internal data needs to make more sense to someone outside the organization.

For example, a telecom organization might generate many low-level network signaling data. This data is useless to most organizations in its current form, but once transformed, it could be precious to a retailer tracking foot traffic nationwide. The problem is that converting this signaling data into foot traffic data requires complex transformations. The telecom signaling data comprises of low-level signaling handshake and keep-alive messages. Most companies outside the telecom world need the tools or skills to convert this noisy data into something useful.

1. Raw pizza dough is like raw data. It has the potential to be valuable, but it needs to be transformed and enriched before it can be used.
2. Frozen uncooked pizza is like a data product that has been cleaned and transformed. It is still not ready to eat but it is much closer than raw dough.
3. Ready-to-eat pizza slices are like a finished data product. They are easy to use, and they provide value to the customer.

The same is true for data products. The more work put into transforming and enriching the data, the more usable and valuable the data product will be. Unfortunately, many companies struggle to build functional data products. They either need more resources or the expertise to do so. As a result, they are often stuck selling raw data, which could be more valuable to their customers.

An airline's Chief Data Officer once told me after listening to my Pizza analogy, "Fawad, forget pizza dough! Most of our data providers give us raw wheat grains, and it takes us several days of ETL to make it usable."

This is a missed opportunity. By taking the time to build finished data products, companies could create much more valuable products that their customers would be willing to pay for.

What to do about it?

So, are you selling your customers raw wheat grains or ready-to-eat pizza slices?

You leave much money on the table if you sell raw wheat grains. By taking the time to transform and enrich your data, you could create much more valuable products that your customers would be willing to pay for. The next time you go to the market, check the prices of pizza dough, frozen pizza, and ready-to-eat pizza slices on a per kilogram basis (or per Pound if you prefer).

Think about the following three points:

1. I encourage you to consider your data products regarding the pizza analogy. Where are you on the spectrum from raw dough to ready-to-eat pizza slices?
2. If you need more time, take a step back and assess your data products. Are they easy to use and understand? Do they provide value to your customers?
3. If you still need to, you may need to invest time and resources into transforming and enriching your data. It will be worth it in the long run.

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