Database Reference
In-Depth Information
3
Boost Your Big Data IQ: The
IBM Big Data Platform
Today's organizations
understand the value of analytics. In Chapter 1,
we talked about the impact of analytics as a means of identifying the ultimate
leaders in various market segments. We talked about the joint IBM/MIT
Sloan study,
The New Intelligent Enterprise,
which made it quite clear that
strong positive correlations exist between market leadership and an enter-
prise's analytics IQ (which Big Data can boost). Indeed, it's fair to say that
much of the attention around Big Data is associated with companies that
have a vested interest in “upping” their analytics IQ to differentiate them-
selves in the marketplace. So much so, that many organizations now believe
that gleaning deep analytical insights from data has become a survival
imperative in a global economy.
The New Era of Analytics
Now ask yourself “What happens when an increasing number of organiza-
tions embrace analytics?” Do they lose their competitive edge because they
are all competing with increased insight? For example, over a decade ago,
the Oakland Athletics embraced analytics and data-driven approaches to
player valuation—they used this approach to gain advantage over other
teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). Indeed, the A's were leaders among
their peers, demonstrating exceptional
payroll to performance
and
net revenue
per seat
indicators. They set themselves apart from their industry peers using
analytics. In fact, their story was so compelling and generated so much
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