Data Is the New Oil

 OK, full disclosure – our headline isn’t original.  In fact, we first saw it in the 2012 Digital Life Study issued by TNS Research.  Yet, we here at Webtrends, who live in data each day, love the phrase.  We love the idea of data having intrinsic value and being a commodity, like oil, that can be collected, refined and harnessed to fuel extraordinary achievements.  So if data is the new oil, Webtrends is the Saudi Arabia of data.

From Switzerland to San Francisco, data is one of the hottest trends in 2012 business, with many comparing it to a valuable renewable resource to be collected and harnessed for its power.

At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland held in January, data was a key topic and discussed alike oil or any other commodity.  A report by the forum, “Big Data, Big Impact,” declared data a new class of economic asset, like currency or gold.

None other than one of the inventors of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee (and you thought it was Al Gore) noted, “Data is the new raw material of the 21^st century, a resource becoming more plentiful every day.”

And recently, The New York Times announced that we are living in “The Age of Big Data”.

Among a number of interesting nuggets from the article, The New York Times noted:

“A report last year by the McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the consulting firm, projected that the United States needs 140,000 to 190,000 more workers with “deep analytical” expertise and 1.5 million more data-literate managers, whether retrained or hired.”

 No coincidence, then, that in 2012 we here at Webtrends have announced that we are investing $7 million toward hiring an additional 50 new positions, including 35 engineers.  Because, though data may have value in and of itself, we believe that it takes analytics and engineering geniuses to unlock the full potential of that data.

So, again, if data is the new oil, then Webtrends in in essence a Saudi Arabia of Big Data.  Webtrends processes approximately 13 billion – that’s BILLION with a capital “B” – transactions per day….for the past seven years. 

Compare that with Twitter’s approximately 300 million tweets per day, and you have an apt comparison for the powerful position Webtrends enjoys in our Age of Big Data.  It’s an age we’re designed for.  It’s an age where we can help our customers to deeply prosper in.  When it comes to Big Data, we say – bring it on!  More is more and bigger is better.

Do you think data is a valuable commodity like oil?  Oil is a non-renewable resource.  Incalculable amounts of new data, on the other hand, are produced each day.  How do you think that affects the value of data?  And what new, interesting ways do you believe data will be harvested and utilized in the future?