Introduction

Big data refers to large sets of data that have proved to be very difficult to manage while using traditional software techniques. In most of the organizations today, the volume of data is too large such that it exceeds the processing capacity. The data can be information from processing activities in an organization, employee details, and clients’ details. When this data is not processed on time, it may result in delayed decisions. Big data is expected to continue growing due to the increase in the amount of information that an organization is expected to keep. A study done by the EMC Digital Universe predicted that at least 1.7 more megabytes of data would have been created by 2010 for every individual. This number translates to approximately 44 trillion gigabytes of new data that needs to be stored in the digital universe. This big data is also expected to increase in organizations as they become more technologically advanced thus able to store information in a digital form. This paper will, therefore, discuss how different companies collect big data and analyze it according to the case study, Does Big Data Bring Big Rewards?

Case Description

According to the author, there are a number of organizations and businesses today that are taking advantage of big data which has improved service delivery in their respective fields. First, there is the New York City Police Department, NYCPD, together with other federal law enforcement agencies which analyze big data so as to uncover hidden patterns of crime in the United States. Another company using big data to their advantage is Vestas which uses it to go green. This company uses the wind to generate energy and therefore, conserve energy. Using big data, the organization is able to choose the best location of turbines as strong winds damage the turbines while low strength wind will not provide enough power. Also, there is Autozone which uses big data to help adjust its inventory and product prices. Finally, there is Hertz uses big data to analyze customer sentiments about their services.

However, even with the numerous benefits of big data, it also has its limitations. One of the major limitations is rushing to start a big data project without determining the goals of the information being collected first. Collecting a lot of information does not necessarily mean that the right information is being collected. One of the companies that have failed in big data is Google. In the past, Google has used data collected from search engines to determine the number of people with influenza. However, the number turned out to be twice as more as the estimate from the USA Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sears Holdings is also trying to improve its performance by using big data to analyze the patterns of their customers, and as a result, the company has been able to customize the services offered to each of the segments.

Discussion of questions

In the case study, the organizations described collect different types of information. For instance, the state and federal law enforcement agencies analyze data about criminal activity so as to determine the hidden patterns. Secondly, Vesta also has a wind library about turbine location and global weather location. Forth, Hertz, a car rental Hertz, using big data solution to analyze consumer sentiment from Web surveys, emails, text message, Web site traffic patterns and data generated at all of Hertz’s 8300 locations. To analyze these large quantities of information effectively, there must be business intelligence technologies which are used by the organizations. For instance, Vestas relies on location-based to determine the best spots for their turbines by using IBM InfoSphere Big Insights software running on a high-performance IBM system.

By using such business intelligence technologies, organizations are able to reap a lot of benefits from the big data. In NYPD, big data allows the agency to quickly respond on the criminal activities because there is already enough information about the suspects and their addresses. Vestas requires to need to maintain and analyze big data because the company is large and the location of data is important to Vestas so that can accurately place turbines. Hertz requires to maintain and analyze big data to reduce data processing time and improve customer feedback time. All these organizations benefit from analyzing big data as it improves operational excellence, competitive advantages and improves decision making. As a result, there are decisions that improved such as optimal use of resources, effective decision making and reduction of operational cost. However, not all organizations should analyze big data as they may end wasting time and funds if they had not identified the objectives for the project. Therefore, an organization should first establish the business goal for the new information.

Conclusion

Due to this increase in data, the need for an efficient business analytics team is now stronger than ever. Since this is one of the fastest growing needs for businesses today, there is a high demand for analyzing big data and business intelligence technologies. With clear objectives and aims of a big data project, organizations benefit a lot from big data which include increased customer satisfaction, reduced operational cost and generate revenue.

 
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