Big Data

Big Data is affecting everything from supply chains to corporate strategy. It is

forcing executives to rethink how they understand, reach, and even influence
their customers. With so much data available, the ability to know the people
you sell to, and to monetize that knowledge, has never been greater. But how
do you get your head around something so big?

Let’s start with the basics

Data, and the analysis of data, is not new. But in the past couple of years, computing,
storage, and bandwidth capacity have become so inexpensive that they have altered
the scale of what’s possible. Companies can now correlate, sanitize, and extrapolate
data to generate new insights, make their businesses more agile, and answer
questions that were once beyond reach.

Why all the buzz about Big Data?

In the short amount of time it’s taken you to explore this page, businesses and
consumers have produced and stored mind-boggling amounts of new data.
Many organizations are amassing data sets so large and complex that the amount of
information overwhelms traditional data management strategies.
How to think beyond the gigabyte
Here are the units used to measure Big Data:

Terabytes • 1 TB= 1,000 GB Exabytes • 1 EB = 1,000 PB

• “Tera” means “monster” in • In 2012, the digital
Greek. universe was producing
about 2.5 EB a day.
Petabytes • 1 PB= 1,000 TB = 1 million GB Zettabytes • 1 ZB = 1,000 EB
• How many documents can • In 2012, there were about
you store in 1 PB? About the 2.7 ZB of data in the world.
number you could fit into 80 • Imagine this: one day
million filing cabinet drawers. 1,000 ZB will equal one
yottabyte (YB).

Where does Big Data come from?

Big Data comes from sources as diverse as enterprise applications, online sales
transactions, RFID tags, Web searches, and weather satellites. Much Big Data is
generated by customers and employees through email, instant messaging, cell
phone conversations, and various kinds of social media.

Sources of Big Data arranged by complexity and scale

• Complexity refers to the amount of structure in a record in the data source.

• Scale refers to the volume and velocity of data.
 Riding the waves of Big Data
Big Data is developing as a series of waves. With each wave, the tasks of collecting,
managing, and analyzing the data have become more complex. What waves are your
clients riding?

Wave 1— Wave 2— Wave 3—

Internal Social Behavior analytics

Organizations riding The second wave of Big Data taps The third wave of Big Data enables organizations
the first wave of Big into data generated through to predict customer behavior. Organizations that
Data begin by tapping social media. Effective social are working with Big Data in advanced ways have
internal data. For media strategies can provide vast moved beyond merely accumulating data and
instance, an online amounts of data for organizations crunching numbers. Their primary motive is to
retailer designing new to work with as they develop figure out how customers will act in the future so
promotions might targeted products and that they can target products and promotions with
analyze market basket promotions. The cosmetic retailer even greater accuracy. For instance, a hotel chain
data. Sephora, for instance, attracts might analyze customer loyalty card data in
an online crowd of more than combination with FourSquare check-in data so as
3.5 million via Facebook and also to send customers promotions via mobile apps.
draws more than 550,000 fans via
Twitter and Pinterest.
Big Data delivers value through the
three Vs
It’s not just volume that makes the benefits of Big Data so impressive. Big Data also
gives us access to an expanding variety of data that’s streaming at high velocity.

Vo l um e
Big Data means operating at petabyte scale with daily tera-
byte-scale uploads. In practical terms, such large amounts of
information offer opportunities to microsegment customers
based on very detailed pictures of their behavior.

Va r i e t y
Big Data extends beyond structured data to take in
unstructured data of all kinds, including text, audio, video, click
Velocit y streams, log files, and more. Consequently, organizations able to dis-
Snapshot-style data tinguish signal from noise can observe customer and employee behavior
(such as that produced by a survey) from multiple perspectives and gain new insights.
and data stocks have been replaced
Simply being able to manage huge amounts of data will not in itself open
by data flows moving at high speeds,
up business opportunities. After all, some industries, such as telecommu-
producing near real-time visibility.
nications and financial services, have long been used to handling
In many situations, Big Data is time-
enormous quantities of transactional information. But leveraging the
sensitive and so is used on-demand,
variety of information accessible through Big Data can lead to incredible
in many cases even as it is streaming
learning and change.
into the enterprise. High-velocity
response to input has proven critical
in many different contexts, including
financial services, customer
intelligence, supply chain, risk
sensing, and pricing.
Fifteen Business Areas that can Benefit from Big Data
Customer & Supply chain Finance Workforce Risk &
growth Regulatory
Pricing & Supplier & Financial Performance Regulation &
profitability procurement performance management compliance
analysis management
Customer Supply chain Advanced Workforce Fraud & forensics
segmentation optimization forecasting allignment

Brand & sentiment Product Governance, risk Compensation Cyber &

analysis profitability & compliance & benefits reputational risk

Key activities for getting the most

from Big Data
Organizations working with Big Data need to pay particular attention to three
activities: managing data growth, governing data, and mining the data for value.

Manage growth
Internally, organizations not only generate large volumes of data but also replicate that same data for backup,
disaster recovery, and regulatory purposes. Externally, they continuously tap into an ever-growing list of social
networking sites and mobile device applications.
As organizations accumulate data in massive quantities, they must consider alternative approaches for data storage,
management, and processing. The following chart summarizes the technology needs such approaches must satisfy.

Big data technology requirements

Scalable and Schema-agnostic Fault-tolerant and Cost Integration and
efficient Big Data is reliable The cost of security
Operate at multi-structured Systems need storing and Integration with di-
petabyte-scale with dynamic, flexi- ability to recover processing Big Data verse set of internal
with daily tera- ble schemas. from component should be and external source
byte-scale up- failures to assure economical. systems in a secure
loads. reliability of pro- manner.
cessing and data.
 Govern data
The second “V” of Big Data—variety—creates many governance-related challenges. When data are owned by
various sources, some internal and some external, it becomes difficult to enforce standard definitions, formats, time
frames, and quality control measures. Other complications affecting governance include the following:

• Inconsistency of metadata
• Variation in the length of time data are retained
• Different usage restrictions and privacy sensitivities
• Introduction of new privacy sensitivities when
different kinds of data are joined (e.g., health data and insurance data)

Mining for value

It isn’t enough to simply collect and manage data. Organizations must determine how to turn information into
knowledge.

Analytics bring out the true value of Big Data, helping organizations determine how to:

• Extract information about their customers

• Act on information in real time
• Customize offerings on the fly
• Respond quickly to changes in consumer behavior
• Intelligently manage privacy and risk
• Segment, price, and market effectively as new information comes in

To truly mine the value of Big Data, organizations must integrate engagement and analytics deeply
into their operating model, processes, and enterprise systems.
Who you gonna call, and how much
will it cost?
Huge data growth, coupled with technology advances such as open source
technologies and cloud computing, will fuel enterprise demand for Big Data
solutions. But big hurdles remain.
It t akes t alen t to h arn ess t h e
Pr i va c y i s a b ig co ncern p oten t i al of Bi g D at a
Organizations must be careful to ensure that the Capturing value from Big Data requires more than
in-depth collection and mining of personal data does powerful servers and analytics engines—it takes
not result in privacy or compliance lapses. With privacy talented people. It can be challenging, however, to find
laws evolving all the time, they also need to stay team members who have all the skills and experience
abreast of legal developments, not just in the U.S. but needed to fit together the pieces of the Big Data puzzle.
also around the world. Organizations serious about using Big Data to drive
Growing consumer concerns about privacy could change need to recruit people who can develop specific,
potentially disrupt the development of Big Data. “crunchy” questions to convert information into action
On the other hand, personal security issues plans and measurable results.
could lead to business opportunities
for new services, such as data
vaults, and new fields of
consulting.

Tapping Big Data

can be costly
Because systemic solutions have
not yet emerged, an organization imple-
menting a Big Data strategy must be prepared
to bear the costs of integrating new data systems with
existing technology systems. While cloud technologies
can significantly reduce capital costs, integration issues
will likely be with us until Big Data technologies mature.

Organizations that decide to tap Big Data may also

encounter many hidden costs, especially the costs of
recruiting and retaining specialized staff.
So what’s in store for 2013?
Increasingly powerful analytics will provide new ways to link data and identity.
Following are some examples of areas in which you can expect exciting new
developments.

Mobility
As mobile devices begin to act like sensors, providing dynamic views of human
behavior, Big Data will take another big leap forward. Companies will be able to
develop a deep and real-time understanding of their customers through a
variety of digital trails.

Geospatial visualization
Geospatial visualization will allow organizations to make data instantly
available to those needing the information, at the moment it’s needed. For
example, a technician examining equipment with special glasses will be able
to see 3D schematics showing the parts inside. Or an epidemiologist driving
through a neighborhood will be able to use a smartphone to view demographic
profiles of the residents.

Smart grid analytics solutions

In the energy and utilities sector, a grid is a network that carries electricity from
a power plant to consumers. A smart grid incorporates sensors and two-way
digital communication so that a utility can control the flow of power based on
demand, distributing energy as efficiently as possible.

Spending on smart grid solutions is anticipated to grow 63.8% between 2010

and 2015, reaching $42.billion in 2015. As smart grid infrastructures develop,
they will require integrated analytics solutions. Such solutions will enable utility
companies to predict demand patterns and to switch seamlessly between
conventional and alternative energy sources.
More Top Stories
Click the paperclip links below to view these online resources.

The Backstory on Big Data: What TMT Executives Should Know. What should TMT executives consider regarding Big
Data’s possibilities and capabilities? Learn how TMT organizations can use Big Data as a source of competitive advantage.

Big Data 2.0: New Business Strategies from Big Data. Under the appropriate circumstances, Big Data can lead to insights
that aren’t obvious in small amounts of data and thereby provide the means for businesses to be more proactive.

Too Big to Ignore: When Does Big Data Provide Big Value? Much of the language surrounding Big Data conveys a
muddled conception of what data, “big” or otherwise, means to the majority of organizations pursuing analytics
strategies. Big data is a big deal, but it is time to separate the signal from the noise.

TMT Predictions 2013. Deloitte’s view of the key developments over the next 12-18 months.

Striking a Balance Between Extracting Value and Exposing Your Data to the Bad Guys. Information security is an
enterprise-wide concern that reaches well beyond the IT department as companies increasingly depend on business
and operating models that require data to be shared but also protected.

Making sense of social data. The revolution in sense-making is having a profound and disruptive effect on everything
from supply chains to corporate strategy.

Big data: doing more with more. A report about Big Data, and potential opportunities and challenges arising from its growth.

Telcos Can Enhance Profitability with Advanced Analytics. Advanced analytics will help increase telcos’ profitability
and help them to gain a competitive advantage.

Analytics in the Cloud. A report that weighs the benefits and challenges of performing business analytics in the cloud.

What Hadoop Can, and Can’t Do. (IT World). An assessment of the capabilities of Hadoop, a scalable data storage
platform.

Data, Data Everywhere. (The Economist). Managed well, Big Data can be used to unlock new sources of economic
value, provide fresh insights into science and hold governments to account, but a host of new problems can also arise.
More Top Stories
The Hidden Biases in Big Data. (HBR Blog). Data sets are not objective, and treating them as such invites risks.

What’s Your Strategic Intent for Big Data? (CIO Journal). Organizations that want to reap benefits from Big Data need
first to identify their strategic business goals.