Big data – Harnessing a game-changing asset

The speed with which data
reach organizations, the variety of their form and the insights they contain are completely changing
everything we have known about the collection, analysis and management of data. These changes
represent the dawn of a new era of "Big Data", an era in which the sheer volume of data, and data about
data (or metadata), can reveal profound truths about the way the world works, about how disease is
spread, about how financial crises can be avoided and, of course, about how businesses can better
compete. New data are produced every day, generated by mobile phones, global positioning satellites and
social networking sites. And each time new kinds of data are born, so too are opportunities to learn from
them, combine them with existing data and create new insights.
By far the most difficult process right now is reconciling disparate data sources.

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"We don’t want our physicians
to be exclusively responsible for quality. We want
quality to be measured by the team. So we are looking at monitoring
variation around processes and driving out waste and supporting
better care by developing a management system and partnership with
the medical staff." Dr Jim LaBelle, corporate
vice-president of quality, medical management and physician comanagement
at Scripps Health, the San Diego-based health system
that includes 5 hospitals, 2,600 physicians and more than 13,000
employees.

***

Strategically,
operationally and culturally, companies need to reconsider their entire approach to data management,
and make important decisions about which data they choose to use, and how they choose to use
them.

Economist Intelligence Unit research indicates that most businesses have made slow progress
in extracting value from big data. And some companies attempt to use traditional data management
practices on big data, only to learn that the old rules no longer apply.

One of the most startling realizations, however, is that the era of big data has only just begun. The
amount of data produced continues to accelerate, even as businesses large and small struggle to update
their practices. There is still much to learn. But for those companies that combine a long view with
advanced data management practices and cultural change, there is an opportunity to put some distance
between them and their competition.

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"An executive
commitment is
necessary if you
are to have the
rigour to define,
capture and deploy
data effectively.
Bottom up may not
necessarily work."
Stan Lepeak, Director,
Global Research Shared
Services and Outsourcing
Practice,
KPMG

***

There is a strong link between effective data management strategy and financial performance.

— These businesses understand the potential of big data and are already leveraging their data to
their competitive advantage, applying them to strategy development, product direction, market
development and operational efficiency.

Extracting value from big data remains elusive for many organizations.

— Organizations are still learning how to manage big data.

Many companies struggle with the most basic aspects of data management, such as cleaning, verifying or reconciling data across the organization.

— "Data will not answer questions by themselves."

Companies that are furthest along the data management competency continuum–strategic data
managers–provide a useful model for how organisations will need to evolve if they are to extract
and utilise valuable data-driven insights.

— Strategic data managers use data to fi rst identify specific measurements and data points that align closely with corporate strategic goals. They select the most
appropriate data to make decisions, and put a high percentage of the data they collect to use. They are
also more likely to assign a C-level executive to manage data strategy, and they continue to explore
emerging sources of data for potential value.

Big data is changing the way companies of all sizes, in all industries, go about their business. From
the way they understand their markets, to how they mine information about their own operations,
big data is unlocking insight at every turn. It has become an industry in and of itself, spawning new
businesses dedicated to enabling the collection and analysis of big data. And its transformative effects on
existing companies have been dramatic.
When the Economist Intelligence Unit asked survey respondents to describe the impact data has had
on their organization over the past five years, nearly 10% said it had completely changed the way they do
business. Forty-six percent of respondents said it had become an important factor that drives business
decisions.

There is no reason to think these trends will not continue. Of course, big data will always be but one of
the tools that companies use to inform decisions. But it is an increasingly critical part of that portfolio.

And companies that fail to develop a competency around it are likely to be left behind.

Fortunately, the science of extracting insight from data is constantly evolving. Tools are more readily
available as industries begin to invest in the technology that supports big data. And as the competency
levels of firms continue to move along the big data continuum, increasing value will be realized.

Full Report: http://www.matr.net/files/EconomistBigData-1.pdf

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Inteneo Systems – Business Intelligence done the right way from Big Sky Country. We can significantly lower the cost and time to solutions so you can maximize the value of your data and ask the right questions. http://www.inteneosystems.com 406-531-8119 [email protected]