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BIG DATA & DATA

ANALYTICS
Technology & Data Analytics
BY SABI AKTHER 1
 What to focus on?

• Using Big Data to inform & implement business strategy

• Opportunities & threats of big data

• Identify & analyze relevant data for strategic decisions about new product developments,
marketing & pricing

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 Big Data

Big Data has the following characteristics, known as the 3V’s:

• Volume – there is lots of it

• Velocity – it is generated very quickly

• Variety – it can take many varied forms

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 Big Data

These types are often subdivided into two categories:

• Structured data

Structured data resides in a fixed field within a record or file (such as a database or spreadsheet).

Your banking transactions, your contact list or your past store purchases are therefore likely to be
stored as structured data.

This type of data is easier to access and analyse, as long as the model is well designed (for example,
past store purchases on a store card may be less useful if the file does not record quantity, timing
and value).
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 Big Data

These types are often subdivided into two categories:

• Unstructured data

The vast majority of Big Data is unstructured. It does not have set fields or sizes and includes data
such as your personal interests, your photographs and videos, your likes and dislikes etc.

Organisations need to find ways to make the most use of this type of data. For example, an
organisation might attempt to monitor and react to user actions so that if, say, you upload lots of
holiday photographs then you could be presented with holiday promotions on your next visit to a
website. Or an organisation might ask employees to record their skills and interests in a central
database in order to best use these to exploit opportunities in future projects.
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 Big Data

Using Big Data strategically

• Predictive modelling can predict user behaviour based on their previous business transactions
and preferences. This can facilitate new product or new market development.

• Cluster analysis can be used to segment customers into groups based on similar attributes. Once
these groups are discovered, managers can perform targeted actions such as customising
marketing messages and cross-selling to each unique group

• Social analytics often involves metrics such as the number of video views and the number of
followers or community members. This can allow content to be updated, removed or promoted
depending on changes in these metrics
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 Big Data
Using Big Data strategically

• Engagement measures the level of activity and interaction among platform members, such as
the frequency of user-generated content. For example, Foursquare have begun to provide
‘rewards’ (such as a free coffee) to those users who check in and have the greatest number of
connections (number of Twitter followers, for example). This can spread brand awareness and
possibly cut marketing costs so that they are better aimed at the most influential users.

• Reach measures the extent to which content is disseminated to other users across social
platforms. Reach can be measured with variables such as the number of retweets on Twitter and
shared likes on Facebook. Products or marketing campaigns with a poor reach can be changed or
removed from the business portfolio.

• Decision scientists explore Big Data as a way to conduct “field research” and to test hypotheses.
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Big Data is therefore used prior to strategy implementation and will influence strategic choice.
 Big Data

Real world examples

Financial services

Morgan Stanley uses Hadoop to analyse investments and claims to see better results in doing
portfolio analysis compared to when using traditional databases and traditional grid computing due
to the scale and complexity of data involved. This allows the company to identify and understand
the most appropriate investments for clients

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 Big Data
Real world examples

Supply Chain, Logistics, and Industrial Engineering

UPS uses telematics to improve performance. Delivery vehicles are equipped with sensors which
monitor data on speed, direction, braking performance, drive train performance and other mechanical
aspects of the vehicle. This information is then used to optimise maintenance schedules and improve
efficiency of delivery routes saving time, money and reducing wastage.

Data from the vehicles is combined with customer data, GPS information and data concerning the
normal behaviour of delivery drivers. Using this data to optimise vehicle performance and routes has
resulted in several significant improvements:

• Over 15 million minutes of idling time were eliminated in one year. This saved 103,000 gallons of
fuel.
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• During the same year 1.7 million miles of driving was eliminated, saving 183,000 gallons of fuel.
 Big Data

Real world examples

Retail

It is widely reported that Walmart tracks data on over 60% of adults in the US. Data gathered
includes online and instore purchasing pattern, Twitter interactions and trends, weather reports and
major events. This data, according to the company, ensures a highly personalized customer
experience.

Walmart detractors criticise the company’s data collection as a breach of human rights and believe
the company uses the data to make judgements and conclusions on personal information such as
sexual orientation, political view and even intelligence levels.
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 Big Data
Real world examples

Entertainment

Time Warner is using big data to track which types of media customers are watching and when.
This can help to manage bandwidth and therefore optimise customer experience. The company also
uses sophisticated systems to integrate public data such as voter registration and property records
with local viewing figures. This enables targeted advertising campaigns by Time Warner’s
advertising clients.

Netflix has 44 million users worldwide who watch 2 billion hours of programmes a month. The
company uses information gathered from analysis of viewing habits to inform decisions on which
shows to invest in. Analysing past viewing figures and understanding viewer populations and the
shows they are likely to watch allows the analysts to predict likely viewing figures before a show
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has even aired. This can help to determine if the show is a viable investment
 Big Data

Advantages of Big data

• Opportunities to make better decisions

• Increasing productivity & efficiency

• Reducing costs

• Improving customer service & customer experience

• Fraud & anomaly detection

• Greater agility & speed to market

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 Big Data

Disadvantages of Big data

• Questionable data quality

• Heightened security risks

• Compliance headaches

• Costs & infrastructure issues

• Big data skills shortage

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 Summary

1) 3Vs, Opportunities & Risks of Big Data

• Volume

• Variety

• Velocity

2) Structured & Unstructured data

• Structured - resides in a fixed field within a record or file. This type of data is easier to access &
analyse

• Unstructured - The vast majority of Big Data is unstructured. It does not have set fields or sizes.
Organisation might attempt to monitor & react to user actions 14
 Summary

3) Using big data strategically

• Predictive modelling

• Cluster analysis

• Social analytics

• Engagement

• Reach

• Decision
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Thank You for Watching!!

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