Did you know that 1.145 trillion MB of data is created every day? The rapid development of technologies, primarily information tech, has led to such events. Today we have people generating data and tens of millions of sensors connected to the internet.
Data is the most valuable asset of every business. It can help a company do better market analysis, invest smarter, fine-tune marketing, and predict trends, among many other things.
Businesses can collect data independently or benefit from data broker software. Only you can determine the optimal data gathering solution for your business, but let’s see the advantages and drawbacks of this solution.
The pros and cons of data broker software
Understandably, you want to learn about the ups and downs of using third-party services. Data brokers or providers rely on data broker software to efficiently gather relevant data and make it usable out-of-the-box for their clients.
Simply put, a data broker is a company that specializes in all things data. They collect data and sell it via their marketplaces.
However, the biggest data brokers don’t merely collect data. Thanks to data broker software, they can do much more with data and directly benefit their clients. Here are the top advantages.
Data gathering
Data gathering at scale is a very complex operation. Not only is the data scattered all over the web, but it is often in dynamic elements such as JavaScript, making it more challenging to gather.
Additionally, many websites have specific measures to prevent data gathering because it can consume server resources and slow down website performance.
Thanks to data broker software, you can access big data without worrying about hiring data scientists and investing in relevant infrastructure and software. Data brokers have internal solutions to gather data at any scale.
Data cleaning
Data cleaning is also called data preparation, and it significantly improves data quality.
Raw data often contains inaccurate information, and there is also an abundance of irrelevant data. Using data in that form is impossible, so you must clean it first.
Data broker services can help you do that efficiently. They can remove all inaccurate data points and get rid of unnecessary information. They also screen data for duplicates and missing information.
Data structuring
Even though data broker software can help you significantly improve data quality, it’s still not ready for use. You must organize the cleaned data to access, modify, and manage it efficiently. That’s where data structuring comes in.
Data structuring allows you to store well-organized data in the desired format. It streamlines data access and provides a convenient way to update it.
Data processing
Once you pull data from online resources, clean it, and structure it, it is ready for use. However, you need access to specific software and talent to use the data. Data broker software can help you generate desirable outputs.
Instead of doing all the steps above internally, you get access to data that you can feed to your AI-powered or ML-based solution or analytics software. That way, you can gain actionable insights and train your intelligent tools better.
Lastly, using data (primarily sensitive data) for business purposes can hold companies liable. Data brokers obtain licenses for use for companies across sectors. That is a critical benefit of data broker software solutions since there are more and more data privacy laws and regulations.
The pros and cons of running an internal data gathering operation
The advantage of running an internal data gathering operation is that you can control the entire data gathering, processing, and licensing process. If the data turns out to be valuable to other companies, you can even make money selling it to data brokers.
However, data gathering and processing at scale are not available to all companies. Look at the cons of internal data-gathering projects to understand why it’s best to use data brokers.
First, to gather and process data, you need access to proper IT infrastructure, staff, and tools. The cost of your business operations will significantly increase if you invest in all three of these.
Having data scientists on payroll is not something small companies can afford, not to mention the costly infrastructure and software tools necessary to complete these projects.
It becomes even more challenging if you want to do it at scale. Plus, to spot recent trends in data, you need to update it regularly. We are talking about a long-term, resource-heavy, and time-consuming operation.
Then, there is the licensing problem. Staying compliant with all the relevant laws and regulations to use the data you collect legally is crucial.
Finally, you may face challenges when gathering specific data types, such as firmographic data. Companies are reluctant to disclose the details about their operations, and you can end up with false and insufficient data to run analytics and draw insights.
Conclusion
Internal data gathering and processing operations are more suitable for large enterprises interested in big data. On the other hand, data broker software and providers provide startups and small and medium-sized businesses with opportunities to leverage big data.
They can use big data to improve market analysis, make informed investment decisions, source talent, enhance lead generation, segmentation, and nurturing, and improve marketing and sales efforts.
