4th Big Data Insight Group Forum

A well-publicised survey in 2011 claimed that one in three business leaders frequently make decisions without the information they need and half don’t have access to the information they need to do their jobs. This was shocking news that has significant competitive implications for UK businesses struggling in uncertain times.

But only a year later, reports from the business press are painting a different picture, as thought leaders from a variety of different industries are starting to leverage insight in a way that is transforming the way their organisations work.

‘Seizing competitive advantage through the power of insight-driven decision making’

This phenomena, known as big data is enabling organisations to get the right answers to their biggest questions-faster. Tools such as Hadoop and Cassandra are being deployed to reveal previously unseen patterns, to help companies identify trends, react to immediate business conditions and open the doors to new opportunities.

But big data tools are not, in themselves a ‘magic bullet’ and there will be challenges along the way that will threaten to derail any initiative before it even gets off the ground. For a start, justifying the investment in big data isn’t easy. Many will struggle to define a business case, and the structural, people and process changes that will likely occur with a big data effort need to be managed very carefully to ensure success.

Research with members of Big Data Insight Group, the UK’s first dedicated big data community has revealed 8 key questions that must be considered before embarking on any big data programme.

And these questions will be explored and discussed at our 4th Big Data Insight Group Forum, ‘Seizing competitive advantage through the power of insight-driven decision making.’

• What can’t you do today that big data can help you with?
• Does the potential for accelerating existing business processes warrant the potential costs associated with big data adoption: technology adoption costs, project ramp up staff hiring and re training?
• Do you have the appropriate business sponsor who can recognise the opportunities for better use of data and make the business case for assembling the resources?
• Do you have the skills to analyse, interpret and act on this rich intelligence in a timely fashion? If not- what are your options?
• Have you considered the policies that govern access to data?
• How can you restructure workflows to make data flow more logically through an organisation to ensure that information gets to the right person and is acted upon in real time?
• How do you embed a culture of insight-driven decision making throughout your organisation?
• How can you empower end users by enabling them to make insightful decisions?
• Have you ensured privacy and security mechanisms are in place?
• Should your big data initiative replace or run alongside your business intelligence and data-warehousing activities?

Join over 150 leading practitioners and experts responsible for collecting, analysing, and manipulating data, as well as high-level decision makers who use the information data reveals to drive business strategy or make policy.