When we start to look at the promises of Big Data and the rapid evolution of tools and practices that yield amazing actionable insight, we must first look at why we’re doing it. How will this initiative support our strategy? What areas of improvement are we targeting? While there is an argument for the “happy accident” — data analysis that points us in new directions and opportunities — every tool and process should clearly align with our strategies and missions.

1. DOES BIG DATA
REALLY MEAN
BETTER
DECISIONS?
Jay Jesse
President, CEO
Intelligent Software Solutions
Presentation by:

2. SUMMARY
A mass of data for data’s sake is nobody’s end goal —
organizations are investing in Big Data initiatives because they
want to drive better decisions in terms of resource usage and
measurable outcomes. Gartner predicted that investment in Big
Data could hit $242 billion by next year.
In the private sector, this could mean analysis of customer
buying trends to pinpoint the best time and place to make a
newly designed offer. In the government sector, it could mean
integrating several disparate data sources to allocate public
safety resources to more quickly nip a criminal or terrorist threat
in the bud.

3. When we start to look at the promises of Big Data and the
rapid evolution of tools and practices that yield amazing
actionable insight, we must first look at why we’re doing it.
How will this initiative support our strategy? What areas of
improvement are we targeting? While there is an argument
for the “happy accident” — data analysis that points us in
new directions and opportunities — every tool and process
should clearly align with our strategies and missions.
SUMMARY - CONTINUED

4. Once we have the “why” answered, there are three more
granular questions that, if plausibly answered, could make
the difference between a Big Data initiative that drives
results and one that yields only increasing cost, confusion
and organization-wide frustration.
SUMMARY - CONTINUED
View the full blog post here.

5. DOES BIG DATA REALLY MEAN
BETTER DECISIONS?

6. 1. How can we get our data
connected?
2. Can we optimize data for the
results our users need?
3. Can we find the threats and
opportunities we missed before?
YES! BUT ONLY IF YOU KEEP THESE
THREE QUESTIONS FRONT-OF-
MIND

7. Your Big Data mission enabler is
connecting, integrating and staging the
data. This step is critical. The “gold” of
potential insight is there, but it’s spread
across a wild variety of databases, file
formats and maybe even physical
records. Until it’s all connected, you
don’t have a viable Big Data initiative.
1. HOW CAN WE GET OUR DATA
CONNECTED?

8. Your Big Data partner should have a
clear and compelling plan for
integrating all those data sources:
structured and unstructured, files and
documents, databases and even live
feeds. Your Big Data partner or vendor
should also have a powerful answer in
the form of background functions that
will ultimately help your analysts make
sense of the data and drive better
leadership decisions from it.
1. HOW CAN WE GET OUR DATA
CONNECTED?

9. This “connector architecture,” while it
will be invisible to your analysts, sets
the stage for success or failure. The
result will be data that is normalized,
segmented and staged for fruitful
analysis.
1. HOW CAN WE GET OUR DATA
CONNECTED?

10. Once everything’s connected there is a
further art to how well your staff can
query it. Every enterprise will want their
users enabled to search, tag, sort and
visualize data to support their unique
mission. One size does not fit all!
2. CAN WE OPTIMIZE DATA FOR THE
RESULTS OUR USERS NEED?

11. For this stage, you should expect to have a
previously unusable mass of data ready to
be pushed into its own search engine that
is optimized for your processes and
mission. You can’t expect defense sector
analysts to be searching for the same
things, in the same way, that analysts for a
big insurance company would. Optimized
search means a shorter path from your
analysts’ keyboards through terabytes of
data to the answers you’re looking for.
2. CAN WE OPTIMIZE DATA FOR THE
RESULTS OUR USERS NEED?

12. Again, data for data’s sake is no good to
anybody. Optimization for unique roles and
missions — whether private or public sector — is
a key enabler to the fruits of big data. Over time,
your solution should “learn” as the user draws a
tighter bead on the data he or she wants —
constantly improving search results and the
ability to act on them.
2. CAN WE OPTIMIZE DATA FOR THE
RESULTS OUR USERS NEED?

13. You’ve connected your data and refined it
for the search relative to your
organization’s goals. Now comes the
payoff: Seeing the “gold” we set out to find
and presenting it to key decision makers.
Your refined searching now yields the
ability to isolate previously hidden
opportunities and threats, then roll up and
present the data as graphs and tables of
your vital findings.
3. CAN WE FIND THE THREATS AND
OPPORTUNITIES WE MISSED
BEFORE?

14. Imagine a law enforcement agency that
must respond to an upsurge of gang
activity in a large metropolitan area. The
variety and amount of data involved could
be mind-boggling: criminal records and
databases of every description, reports,
camera, RSS and other media feeds.
Hoping to find and see a relationship
between gangs and established criminal
activity, analysts embark on a geospatial-
enabled search that lets them see not just
what is happening, but where.
3. CAN WE FIND THE THREATS AND
OPPORTUNITIES WE MISSED
BEFORE?

15. Because the Big Data system is
automatically tuned by its users’ specific
types of queries, this sprawling data helps
analysts focus on the factors they need,
driving department responses: They will
have a better idea, for example, of which
gang members may be “key nodes” in
recent activity and put them under
surveillance or bring them in for
questioning. Map patterns can reveal
where and when patrols can be increased.
It’s all about getting to what’s relevant from
what was previously overwhelming.
3. CAN WE FIND THE THREATS AND
OPPORTUNITIES WE MISSED
BEFORE?

16. Big Data is a just a buzzword if it’s not
answering questions unique to your
organization’s challenges and driving
measurable change. Otherwise, you’re
out to sea. If you’re trying to get more
out of your company’s data, keeping
these questions front-of-mind will mean
more gain, less pain and better
alignment with your organization’s
strategy.
3. CAN WE FIND THE THREATS AND
OPPORTUNITIES WE MISSED
BEFORE?

17. LEARN MORE
ISS is a company that cares deeply about data and, most importantly,
about empowering our customers by delivering the right data at the
right time. The amount of data being generated and shared is growing
exponentially, producing information overload and cluttering vision,
mission or enterprise goals.
ISS turns this information overload into information advantage.
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