Over the past 5 years more and more companies have found value in the data already in their possession. Companies like Walmart have used data collected to create a competitive advantage, enabling them to dominate their industry. Google is a business founded on the value of data and clearly has set the standard for monetization of data. Even with the data revolution sweeping the business world many business fail to understand the opportunity that sits locked in the applications that run their businesses. Even more disturbing is the data that is never collected due to the limited view of what constitutes a valuable company asset.

In simple terms companies without a comprehensive data collection and monetization strategy will continue to underperform competitors with more forward looking data strategies. Companies without a data collection and monetization strategy will typically view their data in silos, like pricing, supply chain, customer and marketing. Companies without a data collection and monetization strategy may also lose data due to aggressive data retention policies, born of fear and risk management. As the cognitive economy becomes a reality, companies with their silo views will not be competitive and hemorrhage market share to their more informed competitors.