The pace of technological development is no longer a barrier to getting information. What makes a real difference is the capability of business to identify right data sources and indicators which are of most value in a specific situation. It is also necessary to be able to ask right questions with a potential for getting right answers that are expected to be retrieved from data when it is collected, associated with metrics.
For the answers or other information to show up before your eyes, the raw data goes through a number of phases of initial distillation and analytical processing, then it is complemented with some crucial coefficients, calculated and updated, compared with certain threshold values, modified and\or aggregated into something that is worth being taken into account when making a decision.
For some people it is enough to be able to view the desired information on the screen, to make a judgement about what is better to be done. Other colleagues, when working with data, prefer to have an opportunity to search the required items throughout the entire flow of data; to filter them, compare, and\or share with someone else. The easier the access to data is, the more addictive it becomes.
Faster, more frequently and more granular are key properties of data required for making informed decisions. Moreover, with mobile devices easily accessible and widely spread, the capability to adequately respond to a situation is expected to be available anywhere and anytime. The more data you have, the more accurately you can discern the trends. The higher its quality and velocity are, the more actionable insight you can get.