“Huge value” lies within big data and is something organisations cannot afford to ignore, according to South African Ayanda Dlamini, business development manager for LGR Telecommunications.
Dlamini believes within big data resides “priceless information” which can inform enterprises of what their customers are saying, what they want now and in the future and how the competitive landscape is changing.
He said businesses can find answers “in every vertical” through the effective use of big data. Big data can have answers for transport, telecoms, financial services and retail.
Furthermore Dlamini said businesses can gain insights into future customer growth areas as well as into the competitive landscape the respective business is in.
Dlamini believes big data enables businesses to implement services, products and infrastructure before a demand for them is realised as well as improve operations and manage logistics better.
“In our work with companies beginning to address the big data question across Africa, we are seeing some enterprises realising significant benefits from effective big data use. For example, if a telco is doing competitive planning, it uses big data to answer questions like: Who am I losing to my competitors to, and why?” he said.
“They can extract valuable information from external data like blogs, social media and opinion pieces, analyse this, and plan accordingly. Used effectively, big data can deliver cost saving and cost benefits by better positioning the company for effective operations and to meet future customer demand.”
Dlamini believes companies without a big data strategy in place for the next five years will “pay a huge price”, however it is important to place the big data management tools in line with the business’ strategy.
