Data Collection - A Season of Activity

As companies have embraced the transition to digitization, more and more data is generated and consumed. It is estimated that 90% of the world’s data was created in the last two years. The International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts new data creation to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23%, resulting in approximately 175 zettabytes of data by 2025. As a point of reference, a zettabyte is equal to a trillion gigabytes. If you were to count from 1 to a billion, it would take you about 31 years. Now, imagine counting to a billion, a thousand times over – that’s roughly a zettabyte. Enterprises are struggling to balance their need for deeper analytics to drive relevant communications, and an improved customer experience. At the same time, there is a need to protect customer privacy and remain in regulatory compliance.

Data collection occurs from numerous sources, so let’s think about what transpires when you visit a website. Some of the common techniques in website data collection are Cookies, small text files stored on users’ devices when visiting a website. Web Analytics Tools track and analyze user behavior. Forms and Surveys, information is often requested when visiting a website. IP Tracking, websites can capture users’ IP addresses which can provide information about their geographical location. Event Tracking, such as clicks on a specific buttons or links, can be tracked to understand user interactions beyond page views. Social Media Integration, if a website integrates with social media platforms, data may be collected through social plugins and can include information about social shares and interactions.

These considerations have transformed data collection and how it is used. This requires a significant investment, specialized tools, and data analytics talent. If the company doesn’t have the foresight to capitalize on this data, then they may be missing out on key intelligence.

In our next post, we will be discussing the key steps to capture, analyze and take data-driven initiatives within your organization.