The Now Economy

Welcome to the now economy! What does that mean? It means customers want relevant, up-to-date information and a clear understanding of what the information means now (not later).

The expectation of speed and low tolerance for lag time has grown in parallel with Moore’s law, which says microprocessor performance should double every two years, and with advances in the internet and mobile devices.

Those advances mean faster performance on networks and hardware. But they mean something else as well: the faster people go, the faster they expect to go. Customers want problems resolved as soon as they occur.

Can your company do that? Even better, can you address customer issues before they become customer complaints? Here’s an example: a high-value airline customer isn’t going to make his connecting flight. Does he have to wait to deplane and go to the gate agent to get a new flight? Or do the airline systems “know” the customer won’t make his flight and automatically book him on a new flight? Does he get a text message telling him he’s been rebooked, or does he have to wait in line with 100 other people?

Think about your typical IT workday: too much data to handle and …

Welcome to the now economy! What does that mean? It means customers want relevant, up-to-date information and a clear understanding of what the information means now (not later).

The expectation of speed and low tolerance for lag time has grown in parallel with Moore’s law, which says microprocessor performance should double every two years, and with advances in the internet and mobile devices.

Those advances mean faster performance on networks and hardware. But they mean something else as well: the faster people go, the faster they expect to go. Customers want problems resolved as soon as they occur.

Can your company do that? Even better, can you address customer issues before they become customer complaints? Here’s an example: a high-value airline customer isn’t going to make his connecting flight. Does he have to wait to deplane and go to the gate agent to get a new flight? Or do the airline systems “know” the customer won’t make his flight and automatically book him on a new flight? Does he get a text message telling him he’s been rebooked, or does he have to wait in line with 100 other people?

Think about your typical IT workday: too much data to handle and process. It can frustrate any manager. Because they (and we) know that in a dynamic marketplace, competitors gain share by making sense of data and acting on it first. No manager wants to get an e-mail from the boss wondering why a competitor acted earlier on a market shift.

The technologies to accomplish this — and many transactions like it — do exist now. They’re available from Teradata, where we help our customers respond to the needs of their customers and do it immediately, shifting from being driven by hindsight to one of foresight.

Are you keeping your customers waiting? If so, it’s time to join the now economy in this New Year!

Darryl