The latest edition of ‘Data Never Sleeps,’ our annual study on the volume, velocity and variety of data generated and distributed over the internet, came out earlier this month—and nothing about it surprised me.

As the infographic BELOW attests, a crazy amount of data is created, shared and consumed every single second. 

From a business perspective though, volume means nothing. What’s important is being able to identify what data is of real value. It could be 50%. It could be as little as 1%. But if it’s the right 1%, then you’re on the right path.

Just ask my friend David Layton, the CEO of Layton Construction, one of the country’s biggest construction companies.

Earlier this year, he gave a keynote speech at Domopalooza. During the session, he shared a story about how having the right data enabled his firm to gain more work with Amazon.

By paying close attention to just a few key metrics, his teams were able to determine exactly where they needed to spend their time on job sites. Projects got done faster, and Amazon rewarded Layton Construction with additional opportunities.

I love stories like that. They go to show all this data doesn’t have to own us. We can own it. We just have to understand how much of it we actually need. From that position, we can pivot so much easier, and in the direction we need to be facing to truly move forward.