Despite the increased focus on how to create value out of organizational information, data is generally not recognized by organizations as a “product” or other strategic asset that can be sold or leveraged to improve operational efficiency. As a result, enterprises are missing out on the opportunity to capitalize on the potential economic benefits inherent in data that, by all means, is possibly their most valuable asset.
The ability to translate data into dollars is rapidly becoming a reflection of an organization’s ability to compete, not to mention achieving a competitive advantage.
However, when it comes to monetizing data, it tends to be highly personal as each organization’s objectives vary. One company may pursue a new line of business while another company may simply seek a supplemental revenue stream. Additional data monetization objectives include strengthening an organization’s partner or customer relationships, enabling competitive differentiation and sparking interest among customers and investors.
An organization can begin the process of monetizing data by examining its strategic business goals and objectives, which may include acquiring new customers or expanding into new markets. The next step is to formulate a data monetization strategy, but only after investigating the data inventory to determine that the data can, in fact, align with the strategic goals.
Enterprises can directly monetize data by selling domain-specific raw data through data brokers or creating a new product line. Alternatively, they can employ Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), which is a business-centric service providing data assets to their customers to support decision making or other business needs. A less obvious way to realize data monetization is through business impact, such as employing preventative maintenance of equipment to improve operational efficiency, or creating new products and services.
It is important to take note that compliance, privacy and security issues may limit the ways in which the data can be monetized, as data must be shared and monetized responsibly!
How BioStorage monetized its data to create a competitive advantage
BioStorage Technologies, Inc., a provider of comprehensive sample management solutions to top biopharmaceutical companies and academic research institutions around the world, is a great example of how to transform data into a revenue stream.
BioStorage wanted to extend its business beyond that of sample management services by providing solutions that integrate research and sample data in order to advance bioscience discoveries. Thus, the company embarked on an initiative to create a technology solution that would provide a holistic view of information from bio-sample-related data sources. The objective of this initiative, called ISIDOR, is a transformational technology solution for sample and research integration. The goal of ISIDOR was to enable BioStorage’s end customers to access an augmented, enhanced source of intelligence, and place BioStorage in a unique market position as a technology solutions provider.
Originally, the samples managed by BioStorage were limited to what suppliers provided. These samples originated from various locations and were not integrated or aggregated. By employing the Denodo Platform, BioStorage took an agile development approach by using data virtualization to minimize the complexity in gathering the data from various sources and providing immediate, iterative views of the data.
The Denodo Platform integrates data sources globally across various types of organizations including research institutions and labs, biorepositories and biobanks. In doing so, and by leveraging this agile approach, BioStorage was able to exploit data as an asset in achieving a competitive advantage.
The strategic roles played by information in this initiative included advancing bioscience discoveries through integrating research and sample data. A holistic view of information from bio-sample-related data sources enabled BioStorage’s end customers to access an augmented, enhanced source of intelligence. The end result improved BioStorage’s competitiveness in the marketplace.
ISIDOR, supported by Denodo’s data virtualization technology, allowed BioStorage to create an entirely new line of business as a technology solutions provider, adding a new revenue stream to the company’s top line and enabling it to take on larger projects. It also significantly improved BioStorage’s competitiveness in the marketplace.
Lakshmi Randall is a principal product marketing manager at Denodo, the leader in data virtualization software. To learn more, follow the company on Twitter.