From a purely business standpoint, considerations of where and how to build facilities (or alter existing ones) to lessen climate risk have moved up the risk management priority list. Such moves can ward off costly business stoppages in the event of extreme weather events. Perhaps more significant, on an ongoing basis, they also earn lower property insurance premiums.

Early uses of big data were concentrated in two areas: customer segmentation/marketing effectiveness, and financial services, particularly in trading. Recently, supply chain has become the "next big thing."

As a company's supply chain grows, so does its exposure to risk. Experts recommend that companies periodically audit their supply chains to identify vulnerable links, but the value that such audits actually deliver is up for debate, for a variety of reasons.