The proper application of big data technology can provide companies with the advantages they need to outpace the competition. The strategic advantages that big data can provide include identifying a single version of the truth, enabling quick insights, scenario and market simulation, real-time decision making, and organizational memory.
Of course, that is not to say that simply adopting big data ensures success. As with any business strategy, best practices of course must be utilized when an organization decides to implement a big data strategy. But it is equally important that common pitfalls, or worst practices, are avoided.
The complexity and ubiquity of big data make it a challenge to incorporate into a business strategy. With the amount of data companies are collecting today, the risk of companies drowning in their own data is higher than it ever has been. Along with these challenges, a side effect would be that of over-expenditure. Because the big data movement is relatively new and people are still trying to understand it, there is a potential for companies to dive toward the latest and greatest, even if it is not necessarily what they need.
A prevailing attitude in many businesses is that all things IT should be handled by the Chief Information Officer. However, being that there are considerable expenditures related to big data, the Chief Financial Officer also must be made very familiar with the technology. This blurring of duties in the c-suite is an extremely important attribute that must be part of the business. Because big data is an evolved form of technology with many more attributes than traditional business applications, this idea needs to be considered by any business looking to incorporate big data into its strategy. The central-most focal point of big data lies within the fiscal effects that will come about, rather than its technical or informational aspects. It might seem rather unintuitive to have data decisions being made by the financial side of the business, but again, big data is a special case. Only when this idea is accepted can businesses avoid making big mistakes with big data.
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Accurate planning must be a part of the corporate culture to change the organization’s strategy for the better. The company must have a business process design methodology in place so that changes can be made effectively. In other words, the project cannot be treated like a science experiment or something that is going to be tried out. This creates a high potential for abandonment. As Paul Harmon wrote in his book, Business Process Change, “We know of projects that started off to analyze a process and were still at it two years later when the whole project as scrapped.” In the big data world, this is entirely unacceptable. Multiple resources would have been used by the time a project reached such a point and, therefore, this simply cannot be done. When incorporating a big data strategy into the business, the company must understand that this is much more than a “project.” Instead, it is a new standard and practice for the entire organization going on from here.
The tendency to rely too heavily on the software itself is another potential worst practice with respect to implementing a big data strategy. Businesses could incorrectly assume that because using big data involves much automation as well as huge amounts of data, it will contain little, if any, erroneous information. Therein lies a problem – big data hubris. Employees actively involved in using and applying the big data business strategy must realize that, quite simply, there is no substitution for good business practices. It does not matter how “good” a particular software solution is. The software is merely a reflection of management’s strategy. Therefore, it is crucial that, in the c-suite, it is understood that strategy comes before software implementation, not the other way around. Software, in and of itself, cannot do all of the work for the company. It is the executives who must handle this burden and tackle this challenge in an adequate way.
New waves of technology are naturally attractive and attention grabbing. The big data movement is no exception. Those associated with introducing this technology to the business must be careful not to overestimate the positive and noticeable effects that it will have on the company. There are limitations as to what it can do, and it is important to realize this early on. Those tasked with incorporating big data into the business strategy must have a clear and concise vision. They cannot simply rely on the technology to create the vision for them because this will cause them to promise things that will end up not being achieved.
Dr. Cheickna Sylla is an Associate Professor of Management Science and Decision Science at the School of Management, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. His teaching and research interests include statistical analyses and applied operations research methods to human machine interfaces studies, project management, distribution logistics, management information systems, decision support systems, and operations management.
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