During the Governance Forum held on April 23, 2014, Brian Jenkins and Casey James, consultants of EMC2, offered an excellent overview of big data – history, contemporary perspectives, and best practices for delivering effective engagements. Big data continues to be a highly important topic of central focus to organizations, as firms endeavor to enhance competitive advantage and improve customer experience.  The Governance Forum presented an engrossing discussion regarding big data activity and how we, as project managers, can become more effective in managing such projects.  After a round of introductions, we delved deep into the topic.

 

Brian and Casey encouraged interactive dialogue with forum participants, as we talked about information governance and data management. How to use data governance platforms and build these frameworks into operations. Encouraging  successful transfer of knowledge awareness and experience sharing to advance organizational strategy.  One of the fundamental points addressed was the recognition that big data is not just about causal correlation or inference any more, but instead companies recognize the key value predictive analytics may add to the organization.  Word patterns, computer algorithms, visualization of data, to name just a few aspects of discussion, can prove highly beneficial to organization.  An astounding statistic we chatted about was the fact we (globally) have generated more data in the past five years than we have generated in our entire history! This notion is impressive and somewhat intimidating.  Where does the future hold for us?

Big data allows the organization to find the opportunities it didn’t know it had; additionally, fast data allows the organization to respond to the situation before it is gone.  The core elements of big data are:

•    Volume: What is the amount of data available?
•    Velocity: How fast is the data becoming available and can the organization manage the transfer in a timely manner?
•    Variety: Is the data structured (numeric; traditional) or unstructured (texts; e-mails; audio; video; etc.)?
•    Value: What is the worth, or significance, of the data gathered?

There are some barriers to gaining value from big data, particularly due to long ingestion and processing times, analytics trapped in silos, and untapped data sources.  To mitigate these impediments, organizations can adopt processes emphasizing a strong line of business and Information Technology collaboration. Next aligning big data and analytics to business needs (determine data and technology initiatives). Finally, building an ecosystem supported by thorough visualization (roadmap of operationalizing analytics and utilization) and implementation.

In managing big data initiatives or projects, project managers can benefit from considering core lessons learned.  Remember – manage stakeholders wisely as they are critical to success; attend to people, process, and technology due to the integral nature these factors have regarding adoption and impact;. Bear in mind data privacy and security are paramount. Avoid overestimating since this may lead to misjudgments and inaccurate outcomes.

To be honest, the topic was so entertaining and thought-provoking, that at times I found it difficult to write the article, as I wanted to engage more in the conversation!  I highly recommend you attend the Governance forum in May, you will be impressed and intrigued by the quality of discussion and the information shared.

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