The name suggests something sinister, like the ultimate unstable force that could destroy the world at any moment, but Dark Data can actually do an untold amount of good if it can only be tapped into. Just think – every enterprise collects Dark Data – that hoard of unanalyzed information which sits, and sits, and sits on our servers because no one has the first clue what to do with it.

Data centers are home to enormous troves of untapped files, accumulated from manufacturer’s shop floors, retailer’s points of sales, diagnostic equipment in ICUs, among other places. But for the vast majority of this data, the moment it’s collected it’s immediately forgotten about, left to sit and gather ‘virtual dust’ as it occupies precious server space.

No matter what industry or business you choose, or what systems they depend on, a quick look around will unearth a ton of Dark Data sitting there in archives and log files, never to be used. The simple truth is that most organizations today generate far more data than they are capable of exploiting.

But enterprises must do what they can to gain insights from these mostly ignored data sources. As Douglas Laney in points out in Forbes:

“Organizations that treat idle information, or so-called “dark data”, as anything less than having potential economic benefit will find themselves at increased competitive disadvantage.”

If you’re not quantifying that data’s value then you’re not likely to be generating sufficient value from it, and so the logic goes that’s there’s no point in just sitting on it, especially when it’s costing you money to do so. Moreover, somewhere, a competitor could be taking steps to tap into their own Dark Data – if you’re not doing the same, you could soon be left out in the cold.

The value of Dark Data, if we can learn how to exploit it, is probably best demonstrated in areas like science. Thomas Goetz at Wired.com uses the example of all the wasted data from scientific experiments – all of those thousands of studies going back decades that didn’t quite produce the results that researchers were expecting, which are then filed away for eternity, never to be so much as glanced at again.

“The result is a vast body of squandered knowledge that represents a waste of resources and a drag on scientific progress. This information — call it dark data — must be set free,” writes Goetz.

“Freeing up dark data could represent one of the biggest boons to research in decades, fueling advances in genetics, neuroscience, and biotech.”

But how does one go about exploiting all of this Dark Data they possess? It’s a conundrum that few people have a solution for, but only because they’re not asking the right questions. The authors of this superb eBook at CIO.com (it’s free to download, and well worth it) come up with the brilliant suggestion that instead of asking, “what do I do with this data”, we need to ask “sky-blue” questions, such as the following:

If only we knew . . . .

If only we could predict . . . .

If only we could measure . . . .

By asking these kinds of questions it’s much easier to determine what you need to know before you set about the not-insignificant task of sifting through your Dark Data mountain for the answers. But remember not to expect too much too soon. Alone, that Dark Data may not seem like it has much value, but very often the real insights only come about when it’s combined with the data that you do use, or perhaps data that you buy from other sources. It will be hit and miss, and you won’t always find the answers you need, but all it takes is for you to strike gold once and your business can maneuver itself well ahead of the competition.

And after you’re done this, if nothing of any value turns up in your Dark Data, it won’t have been a waste of time. Finally, so long as you exhaust all your options, you’ll be able to justify deleting that low value data and freeing up your IT resources for all the ‘new’ Dark Data that’s destined to come your way.