Varnex Insider September 2017 - Issue 71 | Page 11

BUSINESS CORNER // VARNEX INSIDER
SEVEN STEPS TO BIG DATA SUCCESS
BY COMPTIA
1. Leverage the Hype…But Don’t Get
Carried Away
Big data is the topic du jour at companies
large and small. Use this opportunity to begin
a dialogue on all things data-related, from the
hardware and software responsible for storing
and managing data, to the services and security
responsible for using and protecting data.
2. Augment Existing Expertise
Big data is an expansive category, so don’t
expect to master everything. Begin with your
core areas of expertise and look for natural
extensions. For example, an MSP providing
hosted email may consider adding-on an email
campaign management offering, along with the
accompanying integration and analytics services.
3. Enhance Your Business Consulting Skills
The days of selling solely to the IT depart-
ment are fading. The big data trend will accel-
erate this decline. Line-of-business executives,
the primary users of data, will increasingly drive
decisions regarding data initiatives.
4. Leverage Existing Vendor Partners; Add
New Complementary Ones
Just about every major vendor has rolled out
some type of big data offering. Some will look
to entice quality channel partners through ad-
ditional incentives. Additionally, there has been
an incredible amount of data-related innovation
in recent years, boosting the number of start-up
vendors in the space.
5. Bigger is Not Always Better: Think in
Terms of Basic Customer Problems
Only a sliver of the market has true big data
problems. Rather, most businesses tend to
have lots of small and mid-size problems –
some basic and some mo