Empowered BI: The Evolving Technology Boosting Data Insight in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

The saying "data is the new oil" was coined in 2006 by Clive Humby, a British data commercialization entrepreneur. This now famous phrase was embraced by the World Economic Forum in 2011 report, which considered data to be another vital economic asset, like oil.

Considering the macro trends that are emerging and expected to impact Technology, Media and Service providers in the next ten years, we recognize the growing importance of data-driven insights (strategic big data, actionable analytics), and that those insights may not always come from the usual suspects like full time analysts or the centers of excellence.  For businesses that have already invested wisely in data platforms, the powerful analysis tools and huge data sources now at the fingertips of the average information worker are already showing promising and profitable results.  Within the field of marketing (the marketing guru Michael Palmer picked up the "new oil" phrase in his blog in 2006), thought leaders recognized the transformation years ago and there is plenty of evidence to support the continuing shift of vision toward a digital world of multi-channel experiences and technology enablers like new devices and application platforms.

These transformations in the marketplace have already begun changing the consumer's experience and expectations, influencing not only marketing processes but also sales and certainly customer service processes. These trends will be relevant for the coming years so let us take a peek into what the data journey will bring to our world of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Shifts in the marketplace

With the current state of technology and shifts like Consumerization of IT, the scenarios that were dreamt of years ago are now actually happening all around us. This means ...