8/10/2019 It Next 201304 is Big Data Just Another Analytics Tool

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4 7A P R I L 2 0 1 3 | ITNEXT

A platform to air your views on the latest

developments and issues that impact you

AKBAR LADAK

SENIOR CONSULTANT

& INNOVATION

EVANGELIST

CTO OFFICE | WIPRO

LIMITED

Big Data is not another ana-

lytics tool. However, it allows

analysis of data on a scale

on which it wasnt possible

earlier. Data collection has

become easier and cheaper.

Cost of data storage has also

reduced. IT enables reduc-

tion in the cost of data pro-

cessing and analysis to

gain business insights. This

completes the missing link

that truly enables a data-

driven enterprise. It hasabsolutely made a difference

to IT decision makers. Deci-

sion makers who are ahead

of the curve are convinced of

cost savings of over 50 per

cent using big data.

BALASUBRAMA-

NIAM VEDAGIRI

VP & HEAD - ENTER-

PRISE TECHNOLOGY

SOLUTIONS

MPHASIS

Usage of big data certainly

lets business to take advan-

tage of greater volume and

velocity of data. With more

accurate predictions, better

decisions and precise inter-

ventions, it offers an organi-

sation a chance to support

a wider range of business

analytics and applications.

Using modeling tools and

algorithms to harness the

big data predictive analytics

will define the winners inthe next few years. To be a

true differentiator, the right

data set needs to be chosen

on which the models that

predict and optimize busi-

ness outcome can be built.

SUBHAMOY

CHAKRABORTI

GM-IT, MAGMA

FINCORP LIMITED

From business benefit

perspective; there is hardly

any change from BI to

Business Analytics to Big

Data. However under the

hood, things got changed.

Now we are talking about

disparate sources of data

including social, mobile,

video etc. and then (here

goes the similarity) make

a decision out of them in

lesser cost in lesser time.

BI tools had made a basic

assumption that all the

analytical questions areknown beforehand. That is

not going to be the case in

future. The traditional way

of separating operational

and analytical tasks may

not exist in future.

Is big data justanother analytics tool?

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BOOK FOR YOU

The Signal andthe NoiseWhy So Many Predictions Fail-ButSome Dont

STAR VALUE:

AUTHOR: NATE SILVERPUBLISHER: PENGUIN PRESSPAGES: 545PRICE: RUPEES 1585

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The book carries a measured, cool-headed,

almost therapeutic tone. The authors main

contention is that there is so much random

noise being generated by big data that we

have lost the ability to predict.

THE BOOKS title is derived from

electrical engineering, where a signal

is something that conveys information,

while noise is superfluous and often an

arbitrary addition to the signal. In case

the noise is as strong as, or stronger

than, the signal, there can be prob-

lems. So how do you recognise which

is which?

For a CIO, the connection between

electric noise, and the noise that gets

generated by predictions in the IT

space, will be easy to make. Today the

data we have available to make predic-

tions has grown almost unimaginably

large. According to the author every

day we add 2.5 quintillion bytes of new

data each day. This is enough zeros

and ones to fill a billion books of 10

million pages each.

But the problem is that our ability to

ferret the signal from the noise has not

grown nearly as fast. Hence we have

plenty of data but we lack the ability to

extract truth from it and to build mod-

els that accurately predict the future

that data portends.