We’re coming to the end of the year now. How do you think Microsoft did with their predictions for small business trends of 2017?

Merry Christmas!

Picture this scenario: one of your customers agrees to fill out a survey after making a purchase. They fill in a few of the fields; then they get to the end and write a few remarks in the text box about their shopping experience.

Where does their comment go?

Structured data from the survey stores neatly into database tables: household income, age, sex, other demographics, etc. Unstructured data is different. Your customer wrote a comment about having a frustrating experience looking at your site on their mobile device. It almost turned them away. However, they really wanted the product, so eventually they finished the purchase using a computer. You’re lucky the customer was willing to jump through that hoop, right? But are you ever going to find out about it? It’s possible you’ll miss this feedback because this data will “go dark.”

What is “dark data”?

Dark data is lost information. It gets lost for various reasons. Perhaps there’s so much data that it can’t be analyzed. There may not be access to unstructured data to analyze in the first place. Or there may not be tools that can make any sense of the data. If any of these scenarios happens with your customer’s comment, it becomes dark data.

Do you know where your data goes? Do you know how much is lost in the midst of archives, legacy systems, emails or databases? If you don’t have a clear picture of data workflows, it’s nearly impossible to know which of your business’s data goes dark.

We are in the business of streamlining technology systems. Not only will this bring dark data to the surface, but it will help your business grow. In our customer situation above, once you know about the poor mobile experience, you can improve your site and expect to retain more customers, getting a higher percentage of shopping carts through to the final purchase.

We can work with you today to improve your network infrastructure. We’ve helped hundreds of businesses manage their networks through planning, implementing and maintaining their enterprise IT infrastructure.

Next time you ask your customer, “How was your shopping experience?”, you’ll know. And you can react. And your business will grow.

“Small businesses are less likely to invest in both IT staff and newer technologies,” reports BizTech’s Phil Goldstein. We can help you keep your IT costs down and stay in-the-know with emerging technologies.

We want to know: Do you have standing workstations? Adjustable? Exercise ball office chairs? What does your office look like?