The Big Data Analytics Opportunity

Every day people create the equivalent of 2.5 quintillion bytes of data from sensors, mobile devices, online transactions and social networks. Given all that information, there is a need for Big Data management solutions. According to an IBM survey, 83 percent of CIOs see business intelligence and analytics as top priorities for their business, while another study found that 71 percent of CMOs say their organizations are unprepared to handle the explosion of Big Data.

IBM’s analytics capabilities span both the mobile market and the cloud, given customers multiple ways to analyze their Big Data. IBM’s new BigInsights on the SmartCloud helps clients analyze massive amounts of unstructured data.??íIBM’s new Cognos for the iPad solution brings analytics capabilities to employees’ fingertips, both offline or online.

Understanding what consumers want is important to companies in any industry. With Facebook membership expected to hit 1 billion this year and Twitter up to 140 million tweets per day, analytics can be used to tap into these online conversations to monitor sentiment toward products and services. An IBM CEO study found that 95 percent of the highest performing companies globally say that getting closer to the customer is crucial. The University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab and IBM teamed up on a social media project using advanced analytics software to catch fan favorites during the World Series. The USC Annenberg Social Sentiment Index is being compiled and relies on IBM social analytics technology to analyze millions of tweets.

Analytics at work can be achieved by tapping into Big Data analytics to learn consumer sentiment, gleaning insights that can help organizations make crucial business decisions that will improve business.

Vestas Wind Systems is using IBM Big Insights software and an IBM supercomputer to analyze weather data to figure out the optimal place to install individual wind turbines and entire wind farms. Such analysis, which used to take weeks, can now be done in less than an hour.

XO Communications cut its customer churn rates almost in half by using IBM SPSS predictive analytics software. XO can now predict customer behaviors, spot trends and identify those likely to defect, enabling the company to take steps to keep its customers. Also, IBM’s new Netezza Network Analytics Accelerator will help communications customers make smarter decisions by offering a single end-to-end view of the network, services and customers, on a scalable platform.

Seton Healthcare is the first client to implement IBM’s new Watson-like technology, called IBM Content and Predictive Analytics for Healthcare, allowing the organization to find relevant clinical information from vast amounts of patient information. Seton now can comb through Big Data to better analyze patient information.

The Cincinnati Zoo uses Cognos for the iPad to give management instant access to—and a single view of—visitor and business information. Zoo officials can find new revenue streams and improve visits by tracking what people buy and adjusting their marketing efforts based on that information. Using business analytics software, the zoo has increased in-park spending by 25 percent this year, IBM said.

IBM is helping to boost Big Data skills. At IOD 2011, IBM announced BigDataUniversity.com, a Website where users can learn the basics of Hadoop, stream computing, open-source software development and database management techniques. IBM is working with more than 200 universities worldwide to develop curriculum, and provide training, resources and support on business analytics. In addition, IBM has free skills boot camps globally at 1,200 sites, 38 Innovation Centers, and online data management, governance, quality and security strategies.

IBM officials said the biggest leaps forward in business, science and society will come from insights gleaned through perpetual, real-time analysis of data. By analyzing Big Data, companies can identify new markets, beat their competition, safeguard their assets and optimize their business processes. IBM Research has spent three years addressing Big Data solutions, working with almost 100 clients on such projects.