Optimising information management to prepare “big data” for business analytics

IN-DEPTH: Growing enterprise data volumes threaten to overwhelm organisations lacking a broad data management plan, according to SAS.

A new survey has indicated that organisations with formal data management strategies derive more value from data assets and outperform competitors.

The survey, Big Data: Harnessing a game-changing asset, which was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by SAS, found that only 18 percent of 586 senior executives surveyed worked at organisations committed to collecting and analyzsng data via a well-defined data management plan. Among those strategic data managers, 64 percent put nearly all that data to good use. Asked how performance compared to competitors, 53 percent of those same executives said their financial results bested those of the competition; just 36 percent of those without a data plan made the same claim.

A well-defined data management plan – systematically collecting and analysing key data – is much more strongly associated with success than a disjointed data strategy, highlighted SAS.

Growing enterprise data volumes threaten to overwhelm organisations lacking a broad data management plan. Business analytics pulls insights from massive databases commonly referred to as big data. Clearly, most companies understand the value of big data, yet some struggle to exploit it. The biggest barriers are too much data and too few resources, said 45 percent of responses.

Travel Sector

According to Tom Coulthurst, Sabre Hospitality Solutions’ director of product marketing, in today’s world those businesses who are unable to mine data and turn it into business intelligence are going to find themselves out maneuvered at almost every turn. Many management teams are coming to terms with this, which is why data is becoming more available.

EyeforTravel, which conducted its Product Development Strategies For The Travel Industry Conference in London earlier this month, has found that when it comes to setting out RoI objectives for data management, with the whole process encompassing data modeling, warehousing, administration and mining, a section of the industry believes that the challenge is often that one does not know what the value of MIS or data management is as long as the data has not been mined and surprising insights are generated that can lead to better decisions and increased profitability.

Management is often unable to define requirements that really matter.

“The cost of ERP projects can be quite high, so in order to get a “Go” the expected results are presented in way that offset the investments and after implementation the results often prove to be disappointing,” pointed out Hedwig Wassing, CEO, @Leisure/Belvilla.

“I suggest to model your requirements in a MS Excel or MS Access environment on a small scale to prove the value of the outcome. These tools are quite powerful nowadays and can simulate most functions of an MIS solution. After making the requirement explicit, using this technique, then decide what solution fits the needs of the full scale operation,” Wassing told EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta in an interview.

Strategy

Wassing says first of all you need clear definitions of what the data is you are collecting and which you intend to analyse. What is the definition of market? The home country/city of your guest or the destination they may visit? What is the margin? etc.

“Also define the formats of the data, like how to use date and time and geographical regions. When you start aggregating data, you will find that different sources have different definitions and formats. In your import routines you must homogenise these elements to one “standard”. As many insights are time frame related, dates should be “decomposed” into day-type day-date, month and year. Make sure you are able to make Year to Date comparisons, which requires certain extra parameters,” shared Wassing. “Remember you can only drill down to the lowest lave of data you are storing which may be an individual transaction. At the same time a low level of detail will demand a powerful tool to deliver the required performance and response times.”

Opportunity

According to SAS, increased use of data has made the information technology function more strategic to the business, according to 53 percent of respondents. Big data harnessed effectively via big data analytics can transform companies, said Jim Davis, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, SAS.

Use of data over the past five years “has completely changed the way we do business”, said 23 percent of organisations with formal data management strategies. Even in the entire pool of respondents, including non-strategic data users, 39 percent said they use data to drive strategy.

“Data provides transformational insight, but not by just sitting there. Pulling value from data requires business analytics – comprehensive technologies that manage data, analyse it and deliver insights for improved decision making,” said Davis.

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