For any business looking to put big data to work, the first challenge is finding the right people who know how to wield the right tools, according to a panel of data experts participating Tuesday afternoon in the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business’ kickoff event in this year’s Analytic Speaker Series.
The problem for many businesses when it comes to big data is that it’s perceived as being too big of a resource to tackle. But it doesn’t have to be, says Paul Codding, product manager at HortonWorks, a software company specializing in transforming data into currency. The trick, he says, is translating the data into something of value for your company.
“The software is getting cheaper and the cost of the technology is being driven down in the industry,” Codding says. “So it is not a technology problem, but a people problem. Every company has a shortage of analysts.”
Maureen Norton, executive program manager of Business Analytics Transformation at IBM, says every business should be using analytics to help solve problems both large and small.
“When we have a problem or an inefficiency, it quickly becomes an expensive problem,” Norton says. “Analytics open up a way to solve problems that haven’t been solvable before.”
Large companies actively pursuing analytics technologies are quickly pulling away from their pack of competitors, Norton says. But for small and medium size businesses, she says, it may take some convincing to communicate to organizational leadership why investing in analytics can be cost effective for a business.
“One thing that is critical is for organizations understand that analytics is hard,” says Daniel Porter, cofounder of Analytics Practice at BlueLabs, a Washington, D.C.-based analytics company. “But what it can do is empower people to figure things out in new ways and make good decisions.”
A tip from the experts to help your business get started: Present the incorporation of data analytics as a cost-saving mechanism.
“There is a resistance to bringing in this technology, but people appreciate it when you can save them a lot of money,” Codding says. “Start small, look for quick, easy wins to build credibility for the tool, and eventually, it [the analytics] can help drive the bottom line.”
Presented by the LSU business college’s Master of Science in Analytics Program and LSU Center for Computation & Technology, the speaker series will continue with monthly events through April. —Gabrielle Braud
