Turning data into gold: the power of data portals to create value

It enables better decision-making, forecasting, operational efficiency and cost reduction, as well as process improvement and innovation. Altogether, the benefits are obvious. However, there is a less discussed but equally crucial aspect of data – using it for direct or indirect revenue generation. But how do you make the most of your data? What tools do you need to achieve this? And what types of revenue can you actually hope to generate?

As the use of data evolves, data portals play an increasingly decisive role in creating relevant uses of data at a large scale. Portals make it possible not only to centralize, secure and visualize data, but also to transform it into products tailored to specific needs and targets. This article explores the impact of these portals in transforming raw data into data assets, and highlights how they pave the way for the creation of new revenue streams through different use cases.

Transforming raw data into high-value data assets – such as dashboards, APIs, and visualizations – is a crucial step for organizations seeking to exploit the full potential of their data. It is also the first step in creating value and generating new sources of direct or indirect revenue, while gaining a sustainable competitive advantage.

Unlocking the value of data is not just a matter of transforming it, but also of :

• Aggregating data from a variety of sources (e.g. commercial data, reference data, Internet of Things (IoT), customer data, open data),
• Making it more reliable, by correcting errors and modifying fields to optimize presentation,
• Anonymizing sensitive data (e.g. personal or confidential data),
• Translating data into visualizations (e.g. graphs, tables, maps),
• Providing high value-added analysis and context around the data to obtain information that can be shared, or even marketed.

To achieve this, data managers can rely on tools such as data portals. Providing a single solution for the publication, discovery and retrieval of data assets, data portals play an essential role in turning data into value.

Not only can data portals be personalized for specific target audiences, ensuring an optimal user experience for data discovery and exploration, but they also enable organizations to create different services and stories around their data. By guaranteeing a tailor-made approach for different types and profiles of data consumers, the effective use of a data portal generates value at multiple levels. They enable organizations to meet specific needs and achieve their business objectives.

In addition, it is important to identify how data can be used to generate new opportunities and sources of revenue. This helps to qualify the overall ROI of a data portal. Whether the revenues created are direct, as in the case of a data marketplace or service enhancement, or indirect such as through increased brand awareness, transparency and efficiency, data portals offer an undeniable opportunity to create value and generate new revenues.

The deployment of data portals, whether internal or external, enables organizations to generate value in the broadest sense for their organization.

In the case of internal portals, efficiency and processes are improved, saving staff valuable time. The risk of errors is reduced, and it is easier to spot future problems, leading to longer-term cost savings.

ICF Habitat, the real-estate subsidiary of railway company SNCF, has developed an in-house data portal that provides employees with a wide range of information and tools. This includes details about landlords, strategic asset and development plans, and safety audits. This diverse range of information enables employees to be more efficient and productive, which consequently generates more value for the organization on a day-to-day basis.

Insurer Lamie Mutuelle has integrated Opendatasoft as a vital component of its information system. All data collected internally, or externally by partners, is centralized on the organization’s data portal. This data is then redistributed from the platform in multiple formats and for different purposes. This has generated a range of benefits, including for the finance department, which estimates that it saves 3 days per month in terms of data security and processing time.

With external portals, organizations gain a valuable showcase to help strengthen their corporate reputation and increase communication with their stakeholders. This delivers new opportunities and partnerships, and can make the difference from a competitive point of view in terms of image, as the organization displays a data-centric DNA.

Bank Groupe BPCE, which includes brands such as Banque Populaire, Caisse d’Épargne, and Natixis shares data to highlight its position as an innovation leader in the financial sector. This strategy involves making information available to the public, to reinforce the institution’s reputation, attract new leads and retain existing customers. For example, it publishes all Groupe BPCE job vacancies on its open data portal, enabling the organization to recruit more qualified candidates with less effort.

Infogreffe, which offers access to corporate legal and financial data in France, is increasing its online visibility and reputation as a reliable source of information, attracting professionals seeking reliable, comprehensive data through its portal. Although revenues are indirect, they are valuable and are part of an inbound marketing strategy aimed at becoming the benchmark company in the market.

Data portals can also enhance organizations’ existing offerings thanks to their ability to connect and integrate with other systems, thus making data more accessible.

Birdz by Veolia, which specializes in IoT solutions for water management, uses its Opendatasoft data portal to provide in-depth analysis of its sensor data to individual customers. This enables its customers to improve water resource management and detect leaks more effectively, increasing the value of Birdz’s global offering.

In the energy and environment sector, Akajoule is leveraging its Datajoule portal to present energy and environmental analyses, helping its customers with their energy transition projects. The organization, which used to provide this analysis in the form of static PDF reports, now enhances the value it offers through detailed, interactive analysis. This increases the organization’s competitive differentiation and enables it to generate more revenues from its existing services.

Finally, data portals enable more direct new sources of revenue to be generated, with the creation of data marketplaces, similar to e-commerce sites such as Amazon or Cdiscount, but dedicated to data.

Data portals apply the principles of an e-commerce site, simplifying the browsing experience and facilitating access to data to speed up its reuse. This makes them the ideal medium for creating a marketplace for high value-added data.

Schneider Electric has set up a data marketplace with Opendatasoft, giving its customers access to a wide variety of resources: APIs, analyses and datasets on energy efficiency and facilities management, as well as tools and digital know-how to adapt customer solutions and accelerate their commercialization. This initiative has opened up new revenue-generating opportunities for Schneider Electric, while providing valuable solutions to its customers.

It’s essential to incorporate certain criteria features into your data portal to ensure you provide a high value-added experience that drives revenue:

• The platform must be intuitive: this is essential in order to ensure easy navigation and the ability to interact with data on the portal. The platform must increase portal use by a range of different users, whatever their roles and data skills. Advanced search functionalities are also essential to increase data discoverability.
• The data portal must be high-performance to ensure continuous data availability, maintain consistent performance and reinforce data security. By opting for a solution that meets these criteria, you offer a quality user experience and an optimal level of service.
• Your data portal solution should be customizable, enabling you to create your data marketplace or data portal to suit your brand image and needs.
• The data portal must be able to efficiently manage the processing, security and sharing of data, especially around granular management of access rights for marketplaces who restrict data access to specific customers.
• The data portal solution must offer a range of tools (code and no-code) for creating visualizations and dashboards to showcase your data.
• The technology provided by your supplier must be scalable, so that you can benefit from new functionalities on a regular basis, and interoperable, so that it can be integrated with the organization’s other IT tools for optimal data circulation and interoperability.

Opendatasoft offers a data portal solution to provide centralized, self-service access to organizations’ data assets, enabling them to build personalized data experiences at scale and in record time. Request a demo with one of our experts to find out more!