Technology explained: What you need to know about Big Data Analytics

„Big Data Analytics is one of the most important disruptive technologies in the modern world. Being used in marketing, finance and many more stages of the corporate workflow, companies cannot ignore this quickly growing field. However, the first steps in Big Data Analytics might pose a discouraging challenge for most managers, as the right implementation of a data driven strategy requires a basic understanding of the underlying technologies.

Nevertheless, there is no need to be afraid of the Big Data Transformation. With its new video series, experts of the consulting company PwC Austria explain, which technologies will disrupt the business world in the upcoming years and how they can be used successfully by large corporate groups and small startups to further develop their existing business model. In this episode Enzo Orsi, Director, Lars Pelzer, Senior Consultant and Sarah Schwarzl, Senior Consultant, elaborate on how data can impact businesses.

„Find out desires of your customers“

Using unstructured data to direct a company’s strategy is a fairly new managing technique. It is not only important for targeting customers in marketing campaigns but also for laying the foundation of fact-based management decisions, explains Orsi: „With the help of data, potential mistakes can be identified before they have happened. This gives managers an idea of which areas need to be monitored closely and possibly need more funding. Furthermore market trends and customer desires can be evaluated early on.“

Additionally, Big Data enables managers to analyze the individual needs of customers and use this knowledge for target-marketing, adds Pelzer: „If the data predicts that a customer who wishes to buy product A is also interested in product B, we will also send this person information about product B. This is possible for every single individual customer.“

„Every company can benefit from Big Data Analytics“

For their Big Data Analyses, the PwC-team uses the software Palantir. This US-based technology company developed its analytics-tools for the investigation and prevention of crimes like terrorism and money laundering. Still, also the private sector can profit from its cutting-edge technology. PwC especially uses the tools to combat fraud, says Schwarzl: „We analyze the data and try to recognize any suspicious patterns. For this, we need a tool that can analyze huge amounts of data and standardizes its format. Hence, Palantir is a precious partner for us.“

PwC supports companies across all industries, so that they can use Big Data to optimize processes in their business. For the following years, Pelzer predicts: „Basically every company will use Big Data Analytics in the future. The question is not whether this technology is right for your company, it is how you can implement it quickly and not lag behind your competition.“