Big Data-Hot Air or Hot Topic?

摘要

During the event, there were table discussions and question and answer sessions, and most of the comments raised by the attendees were collected. It was broadly recognised that most of the companies have started to embrace big data; however, in the coming years there will be more changes in order to adapt business operations so they can handle larger volumes of data. It was generally recognized through the survey that improvements in customer management and the identification of new opportunities will be the key advantages for companies that embrace big data. On the other hand, the biggest concerns about big data implementation were customers' data privacy and the impact of the quality of the data collected on the results' accuracy. Some of the recent scandals have raised the awareness in organisations and, therefore, security controls should be implemented around these technologies to avoid unauthorised access. Additionally, the lack of experience implementing these technologies could cause data quality issues, which may lead to inaccurate analysis. To avoid these issues, organisations should implement controls, such as reconciliations or validation tests, to ensure the validity of the information. It was also recognised that the impact of big data in organisations depends on their sector. There were different views of the risk for companies from the financial sector and other sectors. Organisations from nonfinancial services did not consider regulatory requirements a key risk, whereas organisations from the financial sector did. During the final debate, PwC mentioned some areas to consider before implementing these technologies. Those areas and some of the comments from the audience included: 1. Data strategy-Organisations wishing to invest in significant data-led propositions need to understand the commitment required in terms of skills, infrastructure and software. A data strategy is required to set a course for how this may be achieved. This strategy should be aligned with the business and IT strategies and should focus on fulfilling business requirements. 2. Data analysis and management information-As the volume of data proliferating in organisations I continues to grow and data analysis tools become more sophisticated, there are significant opportunities for companies to enhance customer experience through the detailed analysis of data. This can range from increased understanding of customer behaviours to developing more sophisticated pricing structures and market positioning. It is critical for the success of the analysis to have the right tools and skills to manage the data collected. 3. Data governance-Data governance policies, procedures and controls should be implemented in order to obtain the appropriate data quality levels. Organisations need to be able to use data with confidence in their integrity and quality and with the assurance that poor data are not feeding important analyses, the output of which may be driving important business decisions. 4. Data privacy-The increase in the amount of data held by clients also represents an increase in the risk of a data privacy breach or contravention of the terms of the UK Data Protection Act of 1998 (DPA). 5. Capacity-Organisations should ensure that systems and technology are able to support the volume of data necessary to analyse the volume of data required. 6. Skills-Organisations should ensure that they have appropriate skills to manage the volume of data required now, and the appropriate recruiting process and training programs in place to improve the skills of personnel as technology changes. 7. Data architecture-Organisations should consolidate all sources of data required for the analysis in a common data model such as a data warehouse. Data architecture design and extract, transform and load (ETL) processes are critical areas for the success of this common data model and should be assessed and included in the strategy.