Data monetisation: the next frontier

The earlier the better

A lot of organisations think of data monetisation as a scary proposition. Or they believe they’re not far enough along in their AI transformations to even consider it. This hesitancy can be a mistake. Factoring this thinking into your transformation decisions upfront can proactively position your organisation for success as opposed to retrofitting policies, processes, and technologies reactively after the fact.

Deloitte can help your organisation see the value of its data from a broader perspective as well as establish the capabilities for taking advantage of both internal and external opportunities. With the advent of intelligent technologies, data isn’t limited to providing insights to the business anymore ─ it can be the business itself.

Industry, regulatory, and technological conditions are emerging to fuel adoption of data monetisation strategies:

Organisations may analyse their own data to better understand their customer bases, achieve better ROI, or to reduce customer churn. In contrast, external data monetisation - using data to create a revenue stream or to generate value outside the organisation - is not as well known. External data monetisation strategies generally come in a few common varieties:

Raw data. Commonly sold through a data marketplace, raw data is generally considered to be a low-risk, low-return strategy.

Insights as a service. Organisations may take responsibility for examining, refining, and analysing their internal data, with or without to understand its value and where it can be leveraged in the market.

Aggregated data. Data aggregation is a process in which an organization collects data from multiple sources and compiles it in a way that is meant to inform. To generate revenue, aggregated data can be shared one-on-one with other businesses or offered through an ecosystem or marketplace.

Collaborative Analytics. Unlock tremendous value by allowing companies to tackle complex problems that cannot readily be solved by analysing separate datasets.

Companies will likely discover that it’s not about the data itself; it’s about the value-add. The organisation’s creativity is often what turns the data into a strategic asset. With this in mind, companies will need to assess their data assets and how they can enhance and optimise them. Here are few steps to consider:
 

Explore the art of the possible. Important considerations include:

• What can our data be used for?
• Which industries can potentially take advantage of it?
• Why would it be valuable to them?
• And, how much would they be willing to pay for it?
  
  

Prioritise options. To prioritise the list of data monetisation ideas, the organisation can establish criteria linked to its main business objectives. By evaluating options against the business-based criteria, the organisation can come up with a short list of possibilities.
 

Assess readiness.

• Does your organisation have the people, processes, policies and technologies in place to launch a data monetisation effort?
• What is the ideal pricing strategy for the new service?
• Do you have the right sales channels in place to reach your target customers
• Would the right partnership increase the likelihood of success?
   

The devil is in the details. The organisation will need to take thorough stock of itself, which can be difficult to do objectively. Deloitte has developed methodologies and frameworks for evaluating key capabilities, identifying gaps, and helping companies to address them to monetise their data assets.

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