Big Data Analytics & Its Power to Transform Companies
Big Data or Analytics? It is a known fact that the popular buzz word – Big Data is synonymously used for Analytics. While the concept of 'Analytics' has been prevalent for more than 50 years in multiple forms which even included capturing numerical data in tables or even performing manual analysis to derive industry insights and market trends, 'Big Data' as a concept is relatively new which has gained traction in the past 10 years globally, despite its roots in the 1990s.
But recent developments indicate that the boundaries that define both these concepts are now blurring, with increased access to high end computing that also offers cost effective storage along with cheaper bandwidth which has now provides the opportunity to be able to make real-time analytics on large volumes of data.
The Advent of Big Data Analytics
With the advanced analytic techniques, capturing 'large volumes'of complex data that cannot be processed or analysed using the traditional applications and methods has become the need the need of the hour. Big Data meets this need as it involves capturing data from multiple sources like sensors, devices, video / audio outlets, networks, log files, transactional applications, web, social media to name a few with most of it being generated in real time and that too in large quantities.
Big Data Analytics now enables data scientists, statisticians, researchers and other business to leverage advanced analytics techniques such as data mining, trend analytics, diagnostic analytics, etc. from a diverse set of data from multiple sources that was previously inaccessible or unused to derive market trends, customer preferences and gain new insights that enhances business value by ensuring a more informed business decision making practise. This has led to a number of companies realising the importance of capturing all forms of data pertaining to their businesses, apply these advanced analytics as well as build multiple models with the intention of extracting significant business value during the past few years, with the added tenets of quality, accuracy and trust worthiness of such varied data.
How is Big Data Analytics Transforming the Modern Workplace
Earlier, in a typical MIS (Management Information Systems) or conventional BI (Business Intelligence) era set-up, businesses would gather data, store in relational database and run analytics to provide the desired outputs after 15 days which was used for their future decision
-making. Now with the help of Big Data Analytics which offer speed and efficiency, companies can now access ‘near’ real-time information and insights at their finger-tips for taking immediate as well as future business decisions. Most importantly, it gives companies the 'competitive edge' which is critical for its sustenance and for establishing a leadership position.
Industries Impacted by Big Data Analytics
In the bid to stay ahead of their competitors, companies are now using these large data collection mechanisms and analytical techniques extensively and systematically with the strategic objective of creating a distinctive competency. Few major industries that have witnessed a drastic shift in the way they function with the successful implementation of Big Data Analytics include Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Government entities, Retail as well as the Banking sector.
It is also interesting to note how Big Data has been able to meet the varied requirements of these different sectors. Take the instance of Healthcare. Being a data driven industry that needs management and analysis of multiple data like patient records, health plan or insurance information, Healthcare providers can now offer an immediate lifesaving diagnosis or the right treatment option. In the case of Government organisations, this is used to streamline their operations with the prevalent technological developments to tackle pertinent challenges like crime rate etc.
Big Data Analytics & the Travel & Hospitality space
‘Keeping your customers happy’ has been the motto of the Travel and Hospitality sector but the experience of the industry over the time has highlighted the difficulties faced by these companies to record or take a measure of customer especially in a timely manner. Such service oriented organisations have only a short window of opportunity to turn around a bad experience to a frequent and repeat customer.
Big Data Analytics offers immense opportunities in such cases. Not only does it provide these businesses the ability to collect customer data from multiple sources like social media, email, review options on their websites or digital surveys conducted within their premises and use these advanced analytics to identify the trends and this also helps in immediately to identify these problems in a short time span, before it’s too late.
Conclusion
It is now evident that Big Data Analytics has the power to transform companies. Yet the issue remains where many companies are sceptical by considering the cost of these analytical mechanisms over its inherent value. While most of these companies are aware of the advantages of having analytics to maintain a competitive edge, it is unfortunately that many of them have never once tasted the ‘sweet success’ these tools offer. It is imperative to start small by stringing together a series of small analytics ‘successes’ to build the momentum to a stage where the scope and scale of the ‘successes’ rise exponentially over time which would ensure your business going a really long way.
As a career advice for those interested in mathematics, data, statistics or analytics – now is the time to move into the Analytics domain and build a long lasting career in this exciting space.
DISCLAIMER: The above views expressed by the author are his personal views. The data collected by VFS Global from visa applicants is used only for the purpose of visa processing. VFS Global adheres to a strict purging policy upon completion of the visa processing, and does not retain or store any applicant data, as per the guidelines of its client governments.
To stay ahead of their competitors, companies are now using large data collection mechanisms and analytical techniques with the strategic objective of creating a distinctive competency
Industries Impacted by Big Data Analytics
In the bid to stay ahead of their competitors, companies are now using these large data collection mechanisms and analytical techniques extensively and systematically with the strategic objective of creating a distinctive competency. Few major industries that have witnessed a drastic shift in the way they function with the successful implementation of Big Data Analytics include Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Government entities, Retail as well as the Banking sector.
It is also interesting to note how Big Data has been able to meet the varied requirements of these different sectors. Take the instance of Healthcare. Being a data driven industry that needs management and analysis of multiple data like patient records, health plan or insurance information, Healthcare providers can now offer an immediate lifesaving diagnosis or the right treatment option. In the case of Government organisations, this is used to streamline their operations with the prevalent technological developments to tackle pertinent challenges like crime rate etc.
Big Data Analytics & the Travel & Hospitality space
‘Keeping your customers happy’ has been the motto of the Travel and Hospitality sector but the experience of the industry over the time has highlighted the difficulties faced by these companies to record or take a measure of customer especially in a timely manner. Such service oriented organisations have only a short window of opportunity to turn around a bad experience to a frequent and repeat customer.
Big Data Analytics offers immense opportunities in such cases. Not only does it provide these businesses the ability to collect customer data from multiple sources like social media, email, review options on their websites or digital surveys conducted within their premises and use these advanced analytics to identify the trends and this also helps in immediately to identify these problems in a short time span, before it’s too late.
Conclusion
It is now evident that Big Data Analytics has the power to transform companies. Yet the issue remains where many companies are sceptical by considering the cost of these analytical mechanisms over its inherent value. While most of these companies are aware of the advantages of having analytics to maintain a competitive edge, it is unfortunately that many of them have never once tasted the ‘sweet success’ these tools offer. It is imperative to start small by stringing together a series of small analytics ‘successes’ to build the momentum to a stage where the scope and scale of the ‘successes’ rise exponentially over time which would ensure your business going a really long way.
As a career advice for those interested in mathematics, data, statistics or analytics – now is the time to move into the Analytics domain and build a long lasting career in this exciting space.
DISCLAIMER: The above views expressed by the author are his personal views. The data collected by VFS Global from visa applicants is used only for the purpose of visa processing. VFS Global adheres to a strict purging policy upon completion of the visa processing, and does not retain or store any applicant data, as per the guidelines of its client governments.
