Big Data & Analytics: moving toward a global strategy of information management

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Analytics is becoming increasingly embedded in businesses and has become one of the main tools used to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.* The number of Business Intelligence and Business Analytics projects continues to grow and some experts are now talking about the development of a third generation of BI systems.

But how do the companies use analytics to increase their knowledge and implement tangible actions?* MIT tackled this question and the answers appear in an article published by MIT Sloan Management Review*entitled, “Big Data, Analytics and the Path from Insights to Value”.* This article examines the findings of the first survey of 3,000 decision makers from 30 industries and more than 100 countries, conducted in partnership with the IBM Institute for Business Value.

The findings of this survey are so rich and varied, I recommend that you read the entire article.* However, here are some of the points I noted while reading it:

• The most dynamic companies use analytics up to 5 times more than other companies.
• Obstacles to adopting analytic systems no longer exist in the data (how to collect data, how to guarantee data reliability, etc.), but rather in the company culture and managers (how to use analytics to improve business).
• The future of analytics lies in the new technology of data visualization, semantic video analysis and social media analysis.

MIT also suggests following a five recommendation approach to make the most of a company’s analytic programs and quickly create value: think big from the start and concentrate on the biggest opportunities, start by asking the right questions rather than searching the data available, load information in the business processes, make BI features coexist rather than replace them, and plan an information governance strategy.

Today, according to MIT, data quality issues should no longer pose a problem for businesses: the technology exists and it is mature.* Therefore, we should focus on building a global strategy for information management, describing the why and the wherefore of analyzing the available information, to define actions that will drive the creation of value.* As we can see, the future of BI and analytics offers new perspectives that will help businesses grow and develop.

In conclusion, here is new evidence of the openness of public data: the City of Paris just announced that all of its databases (green spaces, election results, waste collection, etc.) will now be available to the public.* This should generate the creation of many new services for residents and tourists.* So, to sum up the article by a leading Business Intelligence expert in France, “We will be talking about Big Data a lot in 2011.”

Bertrand




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