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If ever 'big data' was de rigeur, it is now. Almost every company seems to have a project on the go at the moment. The more that activities, information and services are digitised and turned into a business resource, the more pressure there is for organisations to do something transformative with all of this content. If they don't, there is every chance their competitors will.

But even if you are collecting and studying all of this data, can you honestly say you are using it to innovate and drive your business forwards? If not, you are not alone. It is one thing to know you are sitting on something valuable in all of the information assets you are gathering, but quite another to work out what to do with it.

BIG NUMBERS
If information overload was a problem before for organisations, it must be a crisis by now. In its raw form 'big data' is cumbersome and expensive. New content is being generated all the time, too. The Internet (and there are now more than two billion Internet users globally) is a huge driver of this, of course. According to the latest global statistics, every minute of every day YouTube users upload 48 hours' worth of video, Facebook users post 684,478 comments or links, Instagram users share 3,600 new photos, and 27,778 new posts appear on Tumblr. That's a lot of potentially rich content. And that's to say nothing of information that is being collated internally, as companies record and manage ever more detailed customer data.

To deliver something of genuine value, content must be carefully sifted - by people who know what they're looking for, and who have access to the right tools. Deriving value from vast content stores needn't mean huge upheaval or a significant outlay, though. Rather, organisations need to be realistic about what they hope to achieve and what the payback will be, so that they can focus their efforts and look in the right places. Below are some suggestions of how to turn your knowledge discovery vision into an actionable plan.

FOCUS ON THE END GOAL
There is a lot of 'noise' in the big data world, and most of it is not coming from the content. A plethora of new software technology is now available to help with big data, and it is important not to let your organisation be distracted by it. Unless the software tools have a direct bearing on the real business problems you're trying to overcome today, they could take you off at a tangent.

Semantic analysis (applying 'meaning' to each piece of data) will undoubtedly be very useful when it matures, for example. But until companies have got their immediate business data in order, it is premature to start to try reading farther removed messages that may be crackling in the static. Integrating existing data sources (such as internal data warehouses or fragmented operational systems) will probably be more beneficial in the short term.

Just as companies shouldn't become blinded by the numerous technology options, neither should they worry about any shortfall in new skills. The chances are you already have all the data and analytical capabilities you need but, for whatever reason, are having difficulty harnessing them effectively.

SORT THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF
If you want to avoid content becoming a hindrance rather than a help to the organisation - one that prevents it from distilling genuine insight - you will need to be able to recognise what is important. As tempting as it may be to record and monitor information about everything, it is all too easy to lose purpose.

It would be impossible and impractical to save all the data available to your organisation; deciding what to throw out is just as important as deciding what to keep. Meanwhile, simply tracking something won't automatically make the business any more equipped to act if an anomaly arises. So record the right data, and analyse it with clear purpose - i.e. to address an identified business problem or opportunity.

DON'T BECOME OVERWHELMED
Many organisations are still paralysed by what to do with the growing volumes of unstructured data they are or could be capturing - from social media activity to email content. And yes, their instinct that there is significant value here if these sources can be channelled appropriately is probably right. But there is plenty of time for that when you've got the basics right and have pinned down what it is you want to look for in all of these other interactions.

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