FEATURE: BIG DATA
A
recent blog by Ford declared
the following: “A decade ago,
data analytics was all about
hindsight. Today, it’s about insight.”
It’s a statement which rings true to
businesses all over the world; in 2015,
it doesn’t matter whether you’re part
of a billion dollar blue-chip or a humble
two man start-up, data is your most
valuable asset.
When mined correctly, information
provides businesses with the power to
understand and adapt to customer
behaviour, improve products or services,
generate new streams of revenue, drive
operational efficiency, tighten security,
and ultimately increase the bottom line,
explains Intel Principal Strategist Jim
Henrys.
“Data analysis is becoming the lifeblood
of businesses and its importance
will only continue to grow as the
volume of information generated is
set to explode and reach 44ZB (44
billion Terabytes) by 2020. The most
successful companies will be the ones
able to leverage insights to evolve their
business in an ever-changing business
landscape,” he said.
If there’s one company that can
demonstrate the transformational
power of data, it’s Ford. A disastrous
2006 resulted in a $12.6 billion loss,
and the US car giant decided to
invest in analytics to help turn around
its fortunes. This proved an inspired
decision with the firm turning a $1.9
billion profit at the end of 2014.
By deep diving into its data, Ford was
able to assess customer behaviour
and focus on delivering what they
wanted in a more efficient way. The
car firm developed the Smart Inventory
Management System (SIMS), an
analytics tool designed to identify and
predict buying trends with the ultimate
goal of increasing sales. This was done
by pulling through details about the
most searched for specifications from
the Ford website, cross-referencing this
with sales data along with external
factors such as salary, employment
rates and house prices in any given
region.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Since its deployment in 2009, SIMS
has proved a huge asset to Ford,
dynamically recommending the
optimal number and types of models
dealerships should order. It’s currently
estimated to be worth up to $100
million+ a year to the company. Having
completely bought into the power of
data mining, Ford was the first major
car firm to appoint a Chief Data
and Analytics Officer at the start of
2015. In his role, Paul Ballew is tasked
with establishing an enterprise-wide
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