Buzzwords like Big Data, Data Science and Business Intelligence are mentioned everywhere. But what are the typical potential new business models and products? Given the multitude of data sources, analysis options and business models, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture.
In the following, three initial circumstances and scenarios are mentioned in further described.
Strategical Business Case
If companies have large and valuable data pools at their disposal, decisions on the establishment of new data- and analytics-based business models are often made strategically. This applies to businesses which provide Big Data from satellites, weather phenomena, social media or telematics data. APIs and analytics functions play a central role in the strategic marketing of large data pools [1].

Examples are Facebook and Google, but also companies such as real estate corporations, financial establishments and transport businesses have data that not only help their own company but can be offered to customers via platforms. One example I know of, are the countless providers of stock market data, who are paid for every call to an API.
Explorative and Innovative Labs
In digital, data or innovative labs, where one can work creatively and independently, interdisciplinary teams exploratory search for the development of data-based products and business models. Here, it is also important to mention that a digital platform is created so that the tool for digitization is available in the first place [2]. This platform should be flexible, scalable and cloud-based. As a result, it allows paradigms such as agile development to be implemented and topics and products from the areas of data, processes and apps to be made available more quickly. How to build up such platforms can be read here.
Evolutional and Iterative Approach
In addition to the Big Bang via strategic new business areas or through Data Treasures or exploratory approaches through Data- and Digi-Labs, the evolutionary approach can be a possibility. Often, companies do not necessarily have the prerequisites and data volumes for the former approaches. Thus, successful data business models and analytics platforms can also evolve evolutionary from existing BI projects or dashboards. Especially, if the users are already familiar with the business and data logic and appreciate the value of the existing BI service, new features, improved user experience, faster performance, and more data integration can add significant value for customers.
Summary
There are different approaches for companies to use data for their business cases. Besides the strategical usage of data, corporations can also make use of explorative approaches such as generating new ideas or even evolutional approaches. No matter what approach a company may use for gaining insights from their data, the procedure is inevitable because only by analyzing data, a business can successfully fulfill the needs of their customers.
Sources and Further Readings
[1] Bernard Marr, Data Strategy – How to Profit from a World of Big Data, Analytics and the Internet of Things (2017), 73 -117
[2] Björn Böttcher, Dr. Carlo Velten, Data is the Product (2017)