Are you missing critical business insights?
We live in an increasingly digital world, and businesses collect more data than ever. Every customer interaction, transaction, and operational process generates valuable information. Data collection is constant and ubiquitous, from customer purchase histories and shopping preferences to website behaviour and social media engagement analytics, equipment utilisation and performance monitoring, employee productivity tracking, and so much more.
Yet, surprisingly, much of this valuable information remains untapped, gathering virtual dust in databases and storage systems. This unused data could be costing your business more than you think.
What Exactly is Dark Data?
Dark data refers to all the information your organisation collects but never analyses or uses for business insights.
Gartner defines dark data as
“The information assets organisations collect, process, and store during regular business activities, but generally fail to use for other purposes (for example, analytics, business relationships, and direct monetising).”
Think of those customer feedback forms filed away, those system logs never reviewed, or the years of transaction data sitting idle in your databases.
Let’s focus on the unstructured data that has historically been an issue for Business Intelligence. It’s been long thought that there is value in those emails and forms, but the challenge has been how to easily extract that value and make it beneficial to the business.
The Unstructured Data Challenge
One of the most significant contributors to dark data is the explosion of unstructured data in modern business operations. Unlike structured data (think spreadsheets and databases with clear rows and columns), unstructured data doesn’t fit neatly into traditional database systems.
Examples of unstructured data are:
• Internal Communications: Emails, chat logs, and meeting notes
• Rich Media: Images, videos, and audio recordings
• Social media: Posts, comments, and engagement metrics
• Documents: PDFs, word processing files, and presentations
Without specialised tools and expertise, this valuable information often becomes dark data by default, representing a significant missed opportunity for organisations.
Making sense of this unstructured data has traditionally been done manually using advanced capabilities, including:
• Natural Language Processing (NLP) for text analysis
• Image recognition for visual content
• Speech-to-text conversion for audio files
• Sentiment analysis for social media content
• Machine learning algorithms for pattern recognition
Data Analysis with Advanced AI
With the rise of LLMs (large language models) and the other associated generative AI tools, we can extract that business value without requiring extensive manual effort or engaging expensive specialists. For example, Microsoft has CoPilot, which is included as a core component of the MS 365 Office suite. CoPilot is not a single LLM but a collection of different models that provide a range of capabilities across text, voice, and images.
Tools like CoPilot make it possible to collect data in real-time, generate insights, and analyse trends across various types of unstructured data, tasks that would otherwise require time-consuming manual intervention.
The Challenge
Due to the nature of emails and other unstructured data, there will almost certainly be a lot of “noisy” data that can cause the LLM to produce invalid outputs. So, organisations must be extremely careful to ensure that the material the LLM consumes is valid and accurate.
The DATAMetrics Difference
At Datametrics, we understand that every organisation’s data journey is unique. Our bespoke BI approach means we partner with you to create a comprehensive data strategy. Some of the ways we can help:
1. Identifying valuable dark data sources
2. Guidance on and integration of appropriate analytics tools
3. Building customised data structures; utilising more of your valuable data
4. Internal systems integration
5. Ongoing support and training
Time to Step into the Light
Ready to unlock the potential hidden in your dark data? Our team of experts will work with you to develop a tailored solution that meets your specific needs and objectives.
Contact us today to start your journey towards a brighter, data-driven future. Let’s turn your dark data into your competitive advantage!
