Guide to Data Types

From First to Third, and Alternative Too: A Guide to Data Types  By Alex Woodie in Datanami

One way to create a competitive edge in your business is to use the latest and greatest analytic techniques. Stream processing, deep learning, and graph analytics all fall into that category. But another way to drive competitive differentiation is by incorporating different types of data – ranging from first-party data to alternative data — into your analytic recipes.

First-party data is data that originates come from your own file systems and databases, which hopefully are brimming with years’ worth of data describing your products, customers, partners, and business. In many ways, this internally sourced information from CRM, ERP, sales, marketing, and point of sales (POS) applications is the ultimate data differentiator, because nobody else on the planet but you has access to it.

Your company’s Web and mobile properties are another good source of internal data that hopefully only you can access (although some of it may be accessible to others if you outsource it). Knowing how your customers navigate your company’s digital properties can provide insight into their wants, needs, and expectations, specifically as it relates to how they interact with your company’s main products and services.

These internal systems often constitute the core data feeds for journey analytics projects that track the individual experiences of users in an attempt to improve customer experiences. They’re also fed into Customer 360 initiatives, which are increasingly being standardized by big tech players like Adobe, Oracle, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, and SAP.

Many data analytics projects start with first-party data, which is the most valuable data in your organization. But to really get the analytics party going, you might want to branch out and incorporate other data sources into your data mining or predicative projects.... "