Paradigma Quant Creativity

www.paradigmaquant.com

August 2015

BIG DATA FOR BIG FISHES

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What can Big Data do for you?
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In the era of information, in which humans, smartphones, tablets, and computers interact
on a daily basis, a new player has entered the game field its name is Big Data and it
is here to stay. Big Data is something new, something interesting, something promising,
but also some times, something cryptic and enigmatic. Why did Facebook payed over
19 billion USD in 2014, for the messaging service WhatsApp? Why can Google predict flu
trends better than any medical service in history? These are questions that pop up in the
minds of organization managers, for which it is difficult today to read a newspaper,
attend a conference or meet a consultant who is not talking about Big Data. The
answer to these questions is that it is all about the data, the Big Data that is behind
services like WhatsApp or Google.
The analysis of Big Data can reveal a lot of information about one owns environment,
and since information leads to knowledge, Big Data can help organizations to better
manage their resources, to reduce costs, to increase revenue, or to launch better
products or services. However, the concept of Big Data is so broad that it is difficult to
asses what really Big Data is, and how an organization can benefit from it. For this
reason, we have launched a series of articles named Big Data for Big Fishes, in which
we will try explain what Big Data is and how a manager can
The analysis of Big
Data can reveal a lot
of information about
the organizations
environment.

benefit from it. Specifically, the purpose of this article series is to

provide the readers with a definition of Big Data, make them
comfortable with it, let them gain sufficient tools to understand the
current discussions around this topic, and help them to understand
how their organizations can benefit from it.

Big Data for Big Fishes

Paradigma Quant Creativity

www.paradigmaquant.com

August 2015

Let us understand what Big Data is.

Hence, we define Big
Data as the combination
of massive data sets that
can only be analyzed by
means of algorithms and
advanced statistical
software, to reveal
actionable and
measurable findings that
contribute to a better
management of an
organization.

Big Data is a concept used to describe massive data sets that

contain a lot of information about a lot of individuals or products,
and that cannot be analyzed by means of traditional software,
such as excel sheets or normal databases. Instead, to analyze
these massive data sets and to gain insights about one owns
environment, mathematical models and specialized software is
needed. These massive data sets have only started to exist
recently, due to the advances in technology that have helped
organizations to keep track of the mentioned data and to store
them in a safe manner. Moreover, the daily interaction of humans
with social networks, online stores and internet searching engines,

have fasten the data generating process. The result of this fast and now constant big
data generation is that today, organizations are (or can be) confronted with tremendous
amounts of data that can reveal valuable information about different aspects of their
activity.
Hence, we define Big Data as the combination of massive data sets that can only be
analyzed by means of algorithms and advanced statistical software, to reveal
actionable and measurable findings that contribute to a better management of an
organization.

How to generate value form Big Data.

The given definition about Big Data encrypts two essential ideas. The first idea is that
the massive data sets can only be analyzed by means of advanced statistical software
and algorithms that help the data analyst to find the information hidden in the data. The
second idea is that the information hidden in the data must be translated into
actionable findings that can help managers with specific and measurable actions to
better lead and manage their organizations i.e. the discovered information is only
valuable if it translates into something actionable that managers can use for specific
actions, better product design or more efficient resource allocations.
As an example of how Big Data is helping organizations,
we could mention the insurance companies that are using
the data of associated mobile phone companies to track
the driving habits of its potential clients to optimize their
polices fees (habits such as driving during the day or the
night, exceeding the speed limits, driving a certain number
of km etc.). Another example of the value generation
through Big Data is the management of the harbor of

Big Data for Big Fishes

Paradigma Quant Creativity

www.paradigmaquant.com

August 2015

Hamburg, in which the storing space of materials, the routes of the containers through
the harbor, and the ship-loading process, are being optimized in a efficient way thanks to
the analysis of Big Data, incurring in high monetary savings for the harbor.

What can you take home from this introduction?

Having understood the definition of Big Data and the two basic ideas that lay behind it,
one can see that Big Data has two basic important aspects. The first, and nice aspect
about it, is the fact that thanks to Big Data and its adequate analysis, managers can
nowadays analyze a lot of information about everything that happens in their
organization and its environment. The second, but complex aspect about Big Data is
that generating valuable information from these massive data sets is a difficult task that
requires technical abilities and enough knowledge to ask the right questions and decrypt
the hidden patterns that lie in the data.
In the next article, we will deepen into the value generating process, explaining how it
actually happens, and how managers can plan and execute their first Big Data project
within their organization.

About Paradigma Quant Creativity

Paradigma Quant Creativity is a young consulting firm that combines solid quantitative
data analysis with creative approaches, to come up with pragmatic solutions to its
clients needs.

Visit: www.paradigmaquant.com
Contact: info@paradigmaquant.com

Sources
- Albert Solana & Gens Roca, Big Data for Managers. Empresa Activa, Barcelona 2015.
- Google, Flu Trends 2015. Stable URL
- Parmy Orson. Facebook closes 19 Billion $ deal with WhatsApp. Forbes 2014. Stable URL
- Martin Mller. Living by the Numbers: Big Data Knows What Your Future Holds. Spiegel
2013. Stable URL

Big Data for Big Fishes