Data Analytics and Cloud Native Apps: Essential for Digital Transformation

Today’s customers interact with businesses like never before.   Whether they’re on online or using a mobile app, customers have come to expect services that are always available, with real-time updates based on changing dynamics and intelligent interactions.   If you deliver anything less, you run the risk of losing customers to competitors, who are more than willing to cater to these expectations. Applications are the new face of how businesses interact, engage, win and maintain their customers.

So, how can businesses better understand what their customers really want?

Businesses of all kinds are using data analytics to better understand demand, predict expectations and tailor products and services to meet the ever changing demands of customers.  By using large quantities of data and tapping into external data sources, organizations can uncover hidden patterns and insights that reveal new and even disruptive business models.   If applications are the new face of business, data analytics are the insights that can reveal new opportunities for better engaging with customers through intelligent data-driven applications.

Pairing data analytics with cloud native app development offers the potential to take the customer experience and your business to new levels.   Cloud native apps are built on the concept of a continuous delivery of micro-services, allowing updates to be made quickly and often, for constant refinement of the customer experience.   It’s the winning combination that high performing businesses in industries of all kinds are embracing to provide enhanced customer experiences – something made clear by our recently released Digital Transformation Index.

There’s virtually an app for anything – mobile banking, insurance, airline flights, train services, navigation, music and even wine just to name a few. For example, mobile banking apps allow customers to snap a picture of a check and deposit into their account eliminating the need to drive to the bank- perfect for the busy schedules of todays’ consumers. Insurance apps allow policy holders to get quotes, view and report claims in minutes – making the whole process faster and easier than ever before. Another app allows consumers to take a picture of a wine label and rate the wine. It rolls up the ratings from all users to score the wines and generates recommendations for other wines with similar characteristics. Another app that’s very helpful when driving is an interactive traffic and navigation app that tracks your route and allows drivers to share accident, road hazards and speed traps in near real-time to better navigate increasingly congested roads and highways.

These apps and literally thousands like them – are at the forefront of the evolution of workloads that are driving the future of data analytics. Whether your business has been around for years or relatively new, together cloud-native apps and analytical insights can help you reach customers like never before and build brand loyalty for continued growth.

As customers use these apps, more data is generated about how they use them and their buying patterns. Even greater value can be derived when this data is applied back into the analytics process to enrich intelligent applications and provide even greater insights.   This virtuous cycle where organizations are gathering the right data, feeding it into analytical models in context and taking action on those insights, provides the ideal process for gaining a competitive advantage and transforming your organization into a digital driven business. The faster organizations can move through this cycle enhances their ability to identify and monetize new business opportunities for attracting new and maintaining existing customers like never before.

Dell EMC feels so strongly about this combination of analytics and apps that we’ve recently announced Analytic Insights Module.   It’s been engineered to combine self-service data analytics with cloud-native application development into a single cloud platform.   Learn more about Analytic Insights Module and how it can help your business.

About the Author: Peter Cutts

Peter Cutts is the Senior Vice President of Dell EMC Hybrid Cloud Platforms within the Converged Platforms and Solutions Division. He has global responsibility for the strategy and execution of our Hybrid Cloud Platforms portfolio, which enables business and IT transformation and accelerates time to value for our customers and partners. Leveraging the power of Dell EMC converged and hyper-converged engineered systems, the Hybrid Cloud Platforms organization focuses on delivering the Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, Native Hybrid Cloud, Analytic Insights Module, and the Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack.