Big data analytics: Companies still struggling with the basics

  • Teradata believes it can help drive big data analytics adoption
  • Urges forward-thinking organisations to build data-driven economy
 Big data analytics: Companies still struggling with the basics

EVEN though many companies know about big data and understand how analytics can help them improve their business and competitiveness, a significant portion is still not embracing the technology in a big way, according to analytics data solution company Teradata Corp.
 
Teradata chief analytics officer Bill Franks said he isn’t surprised that there are organisations which haven’t jump onto the big data analytics bandwagon.
 
“Unfortunately, there are still organisations that haven’t embraced analytics of any type, and so in those cases, it isn’t surprising that they also haven’t jumped onto the big data analytics bandwagon,” he said.
 
Franks said there are cases where companies see the benefit of analytics, but are still struggling to get the basics in place. These companies see big data analytics as their next step.
 
“I believe that organisations like Teradata can do a few things to help broader adoption. First, we are building out a product stack that greatly eases the process of acquiring, managing, and analysing big data.
 
“The easier we make it to do, the more people will do it,” Franks told Digital News Asia (DNA) via email recently.
 
He said that Teradata is also investing heavily in its consulting capabilities, so that the company can help customers throughout their journey to big data analytics.
 
Last but not least, he acknowledged that the industry needs more success stories before the technology can be adopted in a big way.
 
“The more successes that are documented, the harder it will be for organisation to ignore the facts. In addition, once an organisation’s competitors are seeing success, big data analytics can’t be ignored,” said Franks, who was in Kuala Lumpur for the recent Teradata Summit.
 
Build a data-driven economy

Big data analytics: Companies still struggling with the basicsAt the Teradata Summit, Franks (pic) urged forward-thinking organisations in Malaysia to develop a data-driven economy by building out big data analytics, saying it can help improve business decisions, grow profits, and gain competitive advantage.


“Big data analytics is not just about managing more or diverse data. Rather, it is about evolving your company into a data-driven enterprise that is truly structured to succeed.
 
“When data is central to strategy, operations and culture, then people feel empowered to ask new questions, formulate new hypotheses, and make better data-driven decisions that will benefit their business over the long-term,” he said.
 
Franks said a recent study commissioned by Capgemini revealed that data-driven enterprises outperform their industry peers by up to 6%, and are as much as 26% profitable.
 
He also cited another study by Enterprise Management Associates and 9sight Consulting, which found that analytic initiatives are becoming increasingly important in everyday business – as close to half of analytics projects were found to have advanced analytics integrated into real-time operational workflow.
 
“These studies provide a compelling case for more companies to transform themselves into data-driven businesses now. Those firms that manage their data most efficiently and apply the valuable insights it contains, will be the leaders in the new data-driven economy,” he said.
 
Nevertheless, Franks also cautioned companies that they will not obtain immediate success just by having a big data analytics solution in place, as the key success factor is how well they collect and use the data.
 
“Most companies either do not capture meaningful data, or are not using it fast enough.
 
“With big data becoming commonplace, organisations that use analytics to create their strategies, develop operational excellence, and transform their customers’ experience, will become leaders in their respective industries,” he argued.
 
Big data for all
 
Meanwhile, Teradata Malaysia general manager Craig Morrison said he believes that big data analytics is no longer a solution “exclusively” used by selected industries or companies.
 
“The specific opportunities for big data analytics vary broadly by industry based upon the data available and the business model,” he said.
 
“However, there are very few industries that can’t benefit from big data analytics in one form or another. It is worth the time of any organisation in any industry to assess its analytic strategy and to figure out how big data analytics will make the most impact in its specific case.
 
“Given different operational focus points and core competencies, even companies within a single industry can have very different starting points,” he added.
 
Miamisburg, Ohio-based Teradata is also part of Malaysia's National Big Data Analytics Initiative, a taskforce formed by national ICT custodian Multimedia Development Corp (MDeC).
 
“This initiative clearly demonstrates that big data analytics has expanded beyond being a corporate agenda into one that has growing national importance here,” said Morrison.
 
Related Stories:
 
Big data hype slowly but surely melting away
 
Teradata targets unified data, better analytics and marketers
 
Seven facts about data-driven cultures in APAC
 
Malaysia to appoint chief data scientist?
 
 
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