EMPOWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH DATA maximizing data s business value AND KEEPING IT SAFE
EMPOWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH DATA maximizing data s business value AND KEEPING IT SAFE Data is an organization s lifeblood. Without it, an organization can t function. But data is expanding faster than ever and now we re facing the challenges of big data too: not just large volumes, but data that changes rapidly, comes in more varieties and from more sources. Structured, internal data is increasingly being supplemented by unstructured data like audio, video and sensors, and data from external sources like the internet, social media and third parties. The potential for gaining valuable new insights by blending and analyzing the multiple datasets is enormous; at the same time, it s vital to store, protect and handle data appropriately, to prevent it becoming a liability.
How organizations find and use data is changing dramatically. A data-driven economy is emerging, and organizations are beginning to understand and explore the possibilities. With so much data coming available the challenge is to harness the data in new ways and maximize the business value it can deliver. CSC.COM/BIGDATA
Until recently, it wasn t possible to interrogate unstructured data, like email and conversations, in conjunction with structured data, such as spreadsheets and databases. But now it s becoming easier to combine and analyze vast, rapidly changing datasets, using new technologies and techniques that can mine it in more meaningful ways than before. The prospect of gaining fresh insights from the new datasets is exciting: if you could generate actionable intelligence, that s delivered to the right people at the right time, your organization could acquire an important competitive edge and even transform the business. But where do you start, when there is simply so much data that s changing and growing all the time? DATA: AN ASSET OR A LIABILITY? Finding new insights by blending and analyzing internal and external data transforms data into a valuable asset for your organization. For example, if an analysis enables the prediction of which customers might defect to a competitor, actions can be taken to prevent that from happening. Suppose a mobile phone company s customer posts on their social networking site that they ve switched to another provider and have a great new handset and call plan. That could persuade others to switch to that provider as well. If the phone company can see who those friends are and match them to its customer records they can quickly take action with an attractive offer to retain the valuable customers before it s too late. On the other hand, data can be a liability if it s not stored appropriately, or worse if your data gets accidentally or maliciously shared with the competition. WHY IS DATA SO OFTEN AN UNDER-UTILIZED ASSET? We all understand the value of data, in a theoretical way at least. So why don t we exploit it to the full? A common reason is the quality of the data. If an organization s data is variable, inconsistent or incomplete, the insight it could yield becomes suspect, and the organization might not want to risk acting on it. Even if there s nothing wrong with the quality of the data, an organization might not have the right tools to analyze the content in a meaningful way; or might not be able to deliver the data in a timely manner to the right person. In addition, combining your own data with external sources will increase the potential for fresh insight. CSC INSURANCE OPTICS SOLUTION CSC Insurance Optics is a family of business intelligence solutions that enable insurance companies to access complex data from multiple systems to more accurately predict changes in their business; track key metrics with customized reports and graphical dashboards; and respond proactively to rapidly changing conditions. Leveraging CSC s service enabled business intelligence products enhances the analytical processes across an insurance company by replacing manual, untraceable activities with an enterprise-level platform that provides customers with: Advanced analytical capabilities based on quality, reliable and auditable data More frequent and more sophisticated analyses Better compliance and risk management Reduced operating costs through automation of previously manual processes An enterprise business intelligence platform that ties transactional systems to the analytic users, and has the ability to evolve to support additional analytic demands
LARGE DIAMOND COMPANY GAINS A COMPETITIVE EDGE THROUGH IMPROVED INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Maximizing profitability in the diamond market depends on fast and decisive responses to what are often very small events and development in national markets. Our client, one of the largest diamond companies in the world, needed access to accurate, timely and up-to-date business intelligence on customer demand, current stocks of rough diamonds, competitive activity and market trends. Management felt that the time and effort sales teams spent each month analyzing raw data including competitive monitoring information and customer feedback was potentially holding the company back. So they asked CSC to build a solution for business intelligence and document management that would be simple and intuitive to use, with a strong focus on delivering a competitive edge in performance. CONVERTING DATA INTO AN ASSET The first step in converting data into an asset is building confidence in its quality. This involves ensuring that your data is clean and that you have proper information storage and management processes in place. You then need access to advanced tools and services for analyzing data that s both structured and unstructured, and that comes from both internal and external sources. To cope with vast, rapidly changing datasets, these advanced tools typically involve data visualization techniques that use visual forms to help you see patterns, gain new insights and act faster on new findings. Visualization can focus attention in ways that, for example, a spreadsheet can t drawing attention to key points while retaining the relevant context and communicating the message more effectively. The most advanced visualization tools create a virtual world where you apply your own knowledge and expertise to the data. By immersing yourself in the data you can create your own connections between individual elements, and so gain even more new insights, spot trends and opportunities. You ll find new ways to add value to your day-to-day business operations and inform your organization s tactical and strategic direction. TIMELINESS IS OF THE ESSENCE Data can only be an asset if it reaches the right person or system precisely when they need it. If a contact center agent is on a call with a customer who might be about to switch to a competitor, the agent needs that information before the call ends, in order to take appropriate action. Delivering that information on time depends on rapidly analyzing multiple datasets: understanding the content of the call in real time, examining the company s own customer records, and mining social media data; or using predictive analytics to identify the risks and the opportunities. If the information arrives too late, it s no longer relevant or useful, and the opportunity to try and retain the customer has been lost. On a larger scale, examining and analyzing data from mobile phone records and social media during a natural disaster can create a heat map that shows how the problem is propagating, and help speed up the initial emergency response and direct it to the most affected areas. Mobility and collaboration tools are key to helping you deliver the actionable insight that enables people to work smarter. Timeliness also depends on the quality of your organization s underlying technology and infrastructure, including your storage resources and how quickly data can be processed and retrieved. SWISS TRAINS RUN ON DATA Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) operates the most intensively used rail network in Europe. SBB worked with CSC to implement a Rail Control System to improve train dispatching. The system uses hundreds of pieces of data received per second from train position sensors and other peripheral systems to calculate journey forecasts, and deliver any resulting changes to railway dispatchers and customer systems in near real time. The result is that more trains (up from 92% to 96%) now run on time keeping passengers happy, and making Switzerland the leader in international punctuality statistics. CSC.COM/BIGDATA
EMPOWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH DATA maximizing data s business value AND KEEPING IT SAFE DON T LET DATA BECOME A LIABILITY Data becomes a liability when it s inaccurate, out of date or used inappropriately, when it arrives too late, goes missing or falls into the wrong hands. Sending direct marketing about life insurance to someone who recently died will, at the very least, upset their family, who may decide to switch their own policies to another insurance company as a result. At worst, the incident will be reported in the media, negatively affecting the insurance company s reputation. When data goes astray or gets lost, it s more likely to happen by accident than by design. But either way, the implications for your organization s brand, regulatory compliance or competitive edge can be serious. A customer list or piece of intellectual property accidentally emailed externally may be received by someone who decides to use it maliciously or for personal gain. Physical loss of data is a risk if your security and protection measures aren t good enough. Lost memory sticks containing unencrypted company data, broken-down laptops whose data isn t backed up, and data center outages with no business continuity plans can all lead to data becoming a liability. That s why services like automated laptop backup and restore, desktop virtualization and efficient storage and security solutions underpinned by properly architected and managed data center infrastructure are vital to protecting your data assets appropriately and cost efficiently. In addition, the ability to mine more of your data effectively, means more valuable information that needs close protection. Even data that can be considered junk; for some, it may be the vital missing piece to provide a competitive edge when combined with other datasets. YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT IS KEY However advanced your analytical tools and processes, it s your own judgement about when and how you use the new insights you gain that will be critical to preventing data becoming a liability. A supermarket may decide to track purchasing patterns and send reminders when customers need to replace or restock certain items. For some of us, a quarterly reminder to buy a new toothbrush might be welcome; others could see it as an invasion of privacy. Equally, displaying a dashboard prompt to change gear based on rev count might be considered insulting by the average car driver, and could cause a decline in sales of that car model. But if you re a racing driver it could be invaluable information that helps you win more races. It s all about understanding the context, knowing the target audience, and judging who needs to know what. This informed judgement is a critical element of maximizing the value of the insights you generate. STARTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY There are many aspects to maximizing the business value of data at both the tactical and the strategic level. The potential benefits are huge, but the prospect of what you need to do may seem daunting. However, it s a transformational journey that can take place in stages, each of which will deliver its own advantages. And the sooner you begin, the sooner you ll start to achieve real value ahead of your competitors. If there s a fundamental issue to address, such as data quality, that will be the right starting point. Or you may want to begin with a quick, tactical win in an area where there s a defined opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. Having addressed a single area, you can then scale up your efforts across the organization and put data right at the heart of your business strategy. It s a journey that will continue, as data and data sources are changing constantly, and the insights to be gained through advanced analytics of big data become ever more sophisticated. It s a journey we can support you on, every step of the way.
THE RIGHT FOUNDATIONS To maximize the business value of data, you need the right infrastructure to underpin it. CSC offers consultancy and solutions for optimizing your data center, improving data storage and management, enhancing data protection and security, and delivering intelligence and insight to people and applications when and where they need it. If your biggest challenge is working out which datasets to put together, or which data analysis tools to use to derive actionable insights, our enterprise intelligence experts can help you with an Information Exploitation Strategy. FIND OUT MORE Contact us to learn more about how CSC Big Data can help your business. We d be happy to discuss your situation in more detail. NORTH AMERICA aos_busdev@csc.com +1 888 512 7068 EMEA eur_busdev@csc.com +44 (0) 845 602 4204 ASIA PAC asia_busdev@csc.com +65 6221 9095 AUSTRALIA talk_to_us@csc.com.au +61 (0) 2 9034 3000 CSC.COM/BIGDATA
WORLDWIDE CSC HEADQUARTERS The Americas 3170 Fairview Park Drive Falls Church, Virginia 22042 United States +1.703.876.1000 Europe, Middle East, Africa Royal Pavilion Wellesley Road Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 1PZ United Kingdom +44(0)1252.534000 Australia 26 Talavera Road Macquarie Park, NSW 2113 Australia +61(0)29034.3000 Asia 20 Anson Road #11-01 Twenty Anson Singapore 079912 Republic of Singapore +65.6221.9095 About CSC The mission of CSC is to be a global leader in providing technology enabled business solutions and services. With the broadest range of capabilities, CSC offers clients the solutions they need to manage complexity, focus on core businesses, collaborate with partners and clients, and improve operations. CSC makes a special point of understanding its clients and provides experts with real-world experience to work with them. CSC is vendor-independent, delivering solutions that best meet each client s unique requirements. For more than 50 years, clients in industries and governments worldwide have trusted CSC with their business process and information systems outsourcing, systems integration and consulting needs. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CSC. Copyright 2012 Computer Sciences Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the UK by EMEA RPE. April 2012.