Some big names include GE, UPS and Bank of America
A host of big companies have explained how they have benefitted from Big Data in a research report published this week.
The Big Data in Big Companies report describes how 20 large firms have deployed analytics software to benefit from Big Data projects. The report has been jointly written by Tom Davenport, research director of the International Institute for Analytics (IIA) and analytics software firm SAS.
Companies covered in the report include AIG, Bank of America, Caesars Entertainment, Carolinas Health Care, CIGNA, Dell, Discover, Fidelity, GE, Macys.com, Schneider National, Sears, T-Mobile, UnitedHealthcare, UPS, Verizon and Wells Fargo.
Bill Ruh, vice-president of GE's software and analytics centre, said: "The pilot projects we've put out there have solved some big problems already. Our early proof-points were important. Now we're moving forward with even more complex problem sets - we're making this a part of everything we do."
Kerem Tomak, vice-president of marketing analytics at Macys.com, said: "Big Data wasn't really a commonly known term when I first started. With all that data - and a 50 per cent year-over-year growth rate - it's more than likely that the business demand around Big Data at Macys.com will only increase."
Big Data initiatives are supposed to enable companies to analyse diverse data - structured and unstructured and from internal and external sources - and uncover new insights to benefit the business.
Executives in the report stressed that analysing Big Data "delivers big payoffs by creating new business capabilities" and helping their organisations conduct current processes "cheaper, faster and more effectively".
The firms in the report described the value of combining reporting, analytics, exploration, protection and recovery on a single Big Data platform. Big Data environments, confirmed the report, usually coexist with, rather than replace, data warehouse and business intelligence infrastructures already in place.
"Big company executives all agreed that Big Data is an evolutionary set of capabilities that would have new and sometimes unanticipated uses over time," said report author Tom Davenport. "But every one of these executives conceded that they couldn't afford to make Big Data a mere academic exercise. It needed to drive value, and better sooner than later."
Organisations that were most effective and likely to succeed with Big Data "fostered strong relationships between business and IT", says the report.
Most organisations in the report are "augmenting existing analytical staff, and adding data scientists with IT capabilities who can manipulate Big Data technologies" for their projects.
"Solid knowledge of data architectures, data quality and master data management hubs are just the beginning for firms pursuing Big Data as a long-term differentiator", the report concludes.
Big Data at UPS
UPS is no stranger to Big Data, having begun to capture and track a variety of package movements and transactions as early as the 1980s. The company now tracks data on 16.3 million packages per day for 8.8 million customers, with an average of 39.5 million tracking requests from customers per day. The company stores over 16 petabytes of data.
Much of its recently acquired Big Data comes from telematics sensors in over 46,000 vehicles. The data on UPS package trucks, for example, includes their speed, direction and braking. The data is not only used to monitor daily performance, but to drive a major redesign of UPS drivers' route structures.
This initiative, called ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimisation and Navigation), is arguably the world's largest operations research project. It also relies heavily on online map data, and will eventually reconfigure a driver's pickups and drop-offs in real time.
The project has already led to savings in 2011 of more than 8.4 million gallons of fuel by cutting 85 million miles off of daily routes. UPS estimates that saving only one daily mile driven per driver saves the company $30 million, so the overall savings are substantial. The company is also attempting to use data and analytics to optimise the efficiency of its 2,000 aircraft flights per day.
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
