POSSIBLE BIG DATA SOLUTION FOR WSUFormulating a business solution for WSU student Enrollment Issues

Nathan Hungate. WSU MBA

WHATS THE MAIN GOAL?

• The BIG DATA solution should answer:

HOW WILL THIS IDEA ACCOMPLISH “BUSINESS OBJECTIVES”

• Possible objectives:1. Improving efficiencies2. Increasing margins (increase profits, decrease costs)3. Attracting more customers4. More precise targeting for advertising5. Etc…

HOW MANY BIG DATA ISSUES ARE BEING ADDRESSED?

• Be precise

• If you have more than one issue, separate out the questions and solutions you’re trying to answer

• Reducing time to process data (ETL solution)

• Archiving historical data (Constant historical data access)

• Indexing data properly

• Have a flexible plan allowing users to manipulate data content and provide the availability of adding a query to the data warehouse structure

WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO DO?• (Example) From a Large Consumer Company perspective:

• They want to get a single view of their customers

What does this mean: Identifying customer service issues among the BIG DATA NOISE and doing so more efficiently.

Speed creates competitive advantage, and advanced functionality allows for continuous improvement in the value of their products.

(Example): This can be done through: 1. Restructuring SQL statements2. Formulating business questions which more accurately address business

issues3. Simplifying the data analysis process (from analyzing to interpreting the

data)

WHERE IS THE DATA COMING FROM?

Need to identify potential big data sources:• May have to bring in information from 3rd party sources like:

1. Social

2. Weather

3. Video

4. Sentiment

5. Public Data Sets

Is the current data clean and worth collecting? If not how can we fix this…

IS THE INVESTMENT “WORTH IT”?

• You have to DEFINE THE VALUE you are achieving from BIG DATA

A company needs a SOLID BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION with SOLID ROI before it funds the project.

SO…..

Provide Business Justification and,ROI answers

WILL IT WORK?

• Don’t do BIG DATA for the sake of BIG DATA

• Make sure you know your investments will pay off and create a POSITIVE VALUE that meet or exceed the companies required rate of return on the project.

• A Positive ROI is crucial

• BIG DATA can easily shift to BIG VALUE if done properly

OUR ANALYSIS: WSU STUDENT ENROLLMENT ISSUES

CLASSES PROVIDED ≠ CLASSES NEEDED/DESIRED BY STUDENTS

• University does a Good Job at offering classes to the majority of students based on what classes are needed each semester• However demand is constantly changing with major fluctuations

• Possible revenue loss stemming from student enrollment in fewer credit hours in addition to extended graduation dates for students

THE STEPS (8 THINGS TO THINK ABOUT)…

1. BUSINESS OBJECTIVE: Providing a more accurate class scheduling system available to students

-Increasing student satisfaction, increasing enrollment hrs. thus increasing total tuition paid, increased efficiencies in providing exactly what students desire, Etc..

2.Reduce BIG DATA NOISE. Focus on ACTUAL DEMAND of students each semester, more precise data collection on desired classes each semester

- A submission form that allows students to enroll in classes, even when it is full, to measure the entire demand for a class and not demand based on availability. Also records prefrences for when the majority of students desire the class to be taught.

(designing a new system for data collection that allows analysts () to evaluate and analyze the data to create a more efficient and ideal model) us

STEPS CONTINUED….

3. How many issues are being addressed? Up to you to decide what you want to address…

Identified based on which issues will provide positive value, or highest value, most beneficial to students employment rates or graduation rates, etc.

4. Simplify the data analysis process through……What processes or steps will you take to answer the problems you

identified above?

5. Must be able to answer… what are we trying to solve and do?

STEPS CONTINUED.…

6. Where is the data coming from?• Sources, is it clean, are adjustments required, ensure data validity

7. Provide business justification and ROI answers to the problems identified…• Justification…The value created from this project will exceed the

value put in. The $10,000 investment required < the tuition gain each semester by the university if they were to identify classes which needed more spots and charging students for those classes when they enroll. • ROI > required investment, do analysis on this and present to

boss.

LASTLY….

8. WILL IT WORK???•How long will it take (Action Plan)• Is it feasible (ROI)• Is there buy-in for the recommended changes (Deans, President, & Student Body)

Above all else, make sure you are CREATING ADDED VALUE FOR WSU!!