How to Make B-to-B Data Dance

As Maxwell explains, “The PC challenge is very real, and that’s something a lot of managers don’t get. They think you can just put a PC on someone’s desk.”

How to Mine Transactional Data. Static data mean nothing until you find something that’s intriguing and has possibilities, Maxwell says. And doing that requires data mining. For a company of Interline’s size, Maxwell says there’s only so far you can go in this process on a PC. Eventually, it becomes wise to invest in a server-based system. (Some smaller companies probably can do it all on a PC, using off-the-shelf software, she notes.) Either way, according to Maxwell, “You need some wins at the [lower] level before you can move forward and get management to invest in the right tools.”