This document discusses how higher education institutions are using big data analytics to address key challenges. It provides 4 case studies: 1) Predictive analytics to identify successful students and research projects, 2) A next-gen analytical framework to track performance and provide automated guidance, 3) Sentiment analysis of social media for reputation management, and 4) A proposed global academic cloud to universally track students. The institution, MIET, is working to implement predictive analytics and real-time alumni tracking through its PI360 tool to gain competitive advantages from big data insights.