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MALAYSIA
Big Data: Size Does Matter
B
ig
data is a term used to
describe the exponential
growth and availability of
data, both structured and
unstructured. It may be as
important to business – and
society – as the world wide
web has become over the decades.
Big data analytics (BDA), meanwhile, is
the process of examining large amounts of
data to uncover hidden patterns, unknown
correlations and other useful information.
Such information can provide competitive
advantages over rival organisations and result
in business benefits, such as more effective
marketing and increased revenue.
It can also provide large-scale social
impact if harnessed wisely.
“Big data consists of structured data,
which are from conventional databases,
and unstructured ones that are from social
media, geospatial, images, audio and video,”
says Ir. Dr. Karl Ng, Director of Innovation
Capital, Malaysia’s Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC).
“The difference between Big data and
BDA is that Big data is pure information
whereas BDA is about performing analytics
and visualisation using the information. The
power of BDA lies in being able to perform
predictive analytics (what will happen) and
prescription analytics (what do we do about
it). That’s the major difference between BDA
and your usual Business Intelligence.”
So, is BDA just a technology proposition?
Obviously no, says Karl Ng.
“It is not about technology. It is an invest-
ment by businesses where data is used to
solve a variety of issues as well as to be able
to forecast and predict outcomes, all of which
can increase the organisation’s profits and
reduce its costs.”
Newbusinessmodels can even be derived
since BDA has the potential to give you novel
insights that you may have never thought of
previously. On the other hand, the govern-
ment can use BDA to reduce administrative
costs by being more efficient and improve
service delivery. BDA can also be used to
performsocially-impactful initiatives towards
crime and disease prevention and reduction.
The reasons are very compelling for the
Malaysian tech industry to focus on this seg-
ment. He says: “Imagine this…about 90%of
the world’s data today was generated in the
last two years! We are living in a data-driven
world where many key decisions are made
based on data analytics. The United States
and Europe has seen tremendous benefits in
BDA, both on the government and industry
fronts. Clearly, Malaysia needs BDA to remain
competitive.”
INFANCY ERA
The last couple of years were somewhat of
a “wait and see” era, where the focus had
been on creating awareness on the potential
and value of Big Data to one’s business, says
Fusionex International CEO Ivan Teh.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange,
Fusionex helps its customers manage, make
sense of and derive useful insights and infor-
mation from the vast amounts of structured
and unstructured data at their disposal.
Fusionex’s Big Data Analytics software,
GIANT, is the first Big Data software of its
level of comprehensiveness ever developed
by a software company in Asia. Fusionex
GIANT has received very positive reviews to
date fromclients adopting it andwas featured
in a White Paper published by IDC in June.
Fusionex is heavily involved in big data
initiatives across the region and is also an
invited member of the Malaysian Govern-
ment Big Data Analytics Advisory Panel,
where the panel’s responsibilities include
that of assisting the Malaysian Government
in the development of its National Big Data
Analytics Framework & blueprint.
Ivan says: “Right now we are at a stage
where forward thinking organisations have
achieved a degree of maturity and where
many are at an ‘incubation’ stage. We see
may companies beginning to embark on big
data initiatives and pilot programmes, albeit
some at a smaller scale, to ‘test and navigate
the waters’ and to define a roadmap centred
around big data where business value can
be reaped.
“BDA is definitely an area of immense
potential where we see companies thriving
and leveraging on Big Data Analytics to drive
their companies to greater heights.”
In other words, it is not a matter of
whether big data will live up to its potential,
but rather, a matter of when Big Data Analyt-
ics becomes mainstream, he stresses.
BENEFITS TO ALL
The need to collect, store, process and
analyse data to derive insights and actionable
items really applies to any industry vertical.
Ivan says: “For FusionEx, there is no
particular industry or business segment
that we would single out. That said, our
observation is that some industries appear
to be more receptive at this point in time,
while others seem to be slightly slower in
embracing it.”
Certain industries include, but are not
limited to, financial services, retail, FMCG,
travel and hospitality, logistics, utilities and
natural resources seem to have a slightly
faster adoption rate for Big Data technology.
A recent case studywith a FusionEx client
from the retail sector revealed interesting
findings pertaining to the correlation of
its sales data, campaign programmes and
B y :
S i m o n V e l l a
We are living in a data-
driven world where many
key decisions are made
based on data analytics.