Customers, big data, and the internet of things

First was the issue of "big data." We're now generating tremendous amounts of information on customer behaviors and preferences - so much that we'll need new technologies and strategies to analyze and convert it from raw data into actionable information.

Next came the "Internet of Things" concept - the idea that through tracking and monitoring the things customers interact with in the real world, including the devices they carry or have in their own homes, marketers can access an even richer source of data to understand the customer.

Big data was posed as a problem. The Internet of Things was positioned as an opportunity. The people who made this list were being somewhat cheeky, I thought. Those two items are inextricably linked, and they reflect something I discovered covering other technologies - specifically telecom and networking. It's extremely easy to collect data. It's another thing entirely to understand how to start understanding it.

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