Big Data accelerating time-to-answer for business

Randy Bean, managing partner at NewVantage Partners, an IT consultancy headquartered in Boston, discusses what’s big about Big Data and which metrics and approaches matter.

In 2012, NewVantage Partners surveyed C-level technology executives in charge of enterprise Big Data initiatives at General Electric, Pitney Bowes, Thomson Reuters, Aetna, Cigna, The Hartford and Travelers in Connecticut, as part of its nationwide survey.

Q: Big Data is not a recent phenomenon. So what’s really new?

 A: You are right. Big Data is not a new phenomenon. What is new are a series of database technology capabilities that make it possible to begin analyzing data and discovering patterns without first having to undertake the laborious process of data engineering, which can comprise as much as 80 percent of the time and cost of analyzing data. The resulting cost savings and time savings represent a breakthrough in the ability of organizations to analyze vast amounts of information. Like any breakthrough, the process of integration and adoption will be with us for the better part of the next decade before companies fully realize the full benefits. 

Q: Which approach will differentiate players? An IT firm that offers A-to-Z Big Data solutions to all verticals or an IT firm that integrates technology into a specific business space, say banking, healthcare, retail, education and so on?

 A: The organizations that are leading the way are beginning by defining the half-dozen most critical business questions that provide business insight that will change their company dynamic — whether it is identifying new market opportunities, customer segments, risk management opportunities, or faster speed to market for new products and services. New Big Data technology platforms can enable organizations to respond to opportunities faster and accelerate business processes. It is vital that the starting point be the business value and benefit, and not developing a technology solution without a business-case mandate. 

Q: What do small and new players bring to the table that giants like IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft don’t?

 A: Firms like Cloudera, Hortonworks, and Revolution Analytics, among others, are changing the equation, making it possible to solve data-driven business problems faster and much more cost-effectively. Large corporations are just beginning to reengineer their analytics environments to take advantage of these lower-cost, more flexible alternatives. The larger technology firms are looking to incorporate Hadoop capabilities within their traditional platforms. The big firms have the advantage of scale; the small new firms have the benefit of being nimble and bringing some radical new approaches to bear.

Q: What are some key applications and metrics for enterprise Big Data?

 A: The ability of organizations to accelerate time-to-answer through Big Data will become the critical metric for measuring how quickly any organization can derive insight and take action based on analyzing their data. We believe this is the big win. Companies are accelerating their deployment of data discovery environments and analytic sandboxes to get faster answers. We also believe companies will derive significant cost-savings by migrating traditional mainframe batch processes to Big Data platforms. There is a dramatic operational cost benefit.