Big data, big business: bridging the gap

Business analytics, occupying the intersection of the worlds of management science, computer science and statistical science, is a potent force for innovation in both the private and public sectors. The successes of business analytics in strategy, process optimization and competitive advantage has led to data being increasingly recognized as a valuable asset in many organizations. In recent years, thanks to a dramatic increase in the volume, variety and velocity of data, the loosely defined concept of "Big Data" has emerged as a topic of discussion in its own right -- with different viewpoints in both the business and technical worlds. From our perspective, it is important for discussions of "Big Data" to start from a well-defined business goal, and remain moored to fundamental principles of both cost/benefit analysis as well as core statistical science. This note discusses some business case considerations for analytics projects involving "Big Data", and proposes key questions that businesses should ask. With practical lessons from Big Data deployments in business, we also pose a number of research challenges that may be addressed to enable the business analytics community bring best data analytic practices when confronted with massive data sets.