CS 329: BIG DATA ANALYTICS

Lecture one: Overview of Big Data

By Dr Christina MURO

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 Lecture one: Overview of Big Data
Outline
◼ What is Big Data
◼ Characterristics of Big Data
◼ Distinction of Big Data with Other Disciplines
◼ Who is generating Big data
◼ What is Driving Big Data
◼ Value of Big Data
◼ Challenges of in handling Big Data
◼ Challenges of Conventional Systems

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 What is Big Data?
◼ There is not a consensus as to how to define Big Data:
◼ —“A collection of data sets so large and complex that it
becomes difficult to process using on-hand database
management tools or traditional data processing applications.” -
wiki
◼ —“Big data exceeds the reach of commonly used hardware
environments and software tools to capture, manage, and
process it with in a tolerable elapsed time for its user
population.” - Tera- data magazine article, 2011
◼ —“Big data refers to data sets whose size is beyond the ability
of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage and
analyze.” - The McKinsey Global Institute, 2011

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 What is Big Data?
◼ Big Data refers to datasets grow so large and complex that it is
difficult to capture, store, manage, share, analyze and visualize
within current computational architecture.
◼ Big Data is a phenomenon that is characterized by the rapid
expansion of raw data.
◼ This data is being collected and generated so quickly that is
inundating (overwhelming) government and society.
◼ By Big Data, we mean:
❑ The data is too big to fit in main memory
❑ We need data structures on the data
❑ Words like “index” or “metadata” suggest that there are underlying
data structures
❑ These data structures are also too big to fit in main memory.

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 Characteristics of Big Data (5Vs)

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 Types of Big Data

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 Harnessing Big Data

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 Who is Generating Big Data

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 The Model Has Changed

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 What’s driving Big Data

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 What’s driving Big Data
◼ Increased data volumes being captured
and store.
◼ Growing variation in types of datasets for
analysis.
◼ Rising demand for real-time integration of
analytical results

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 Challenges of Conventional Systems

◼ Managing massive amounts of data

◼ Integrating data from multiple sources

◼ Ensuring data quality

◼ Keeping data secure

◼ Scaling systems and costs efficiently

◼ Lack of skilled data professionals

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 Big Data Analytics
◼ Big data analytics is the process of examining large and
complex datasets (known as "big data") to uncover valuable
insights, patterns, trends, and correlations, ultimately helping
organizations make data-informed decisions.
◼ The main difference between big data analytics and traditional
data analytics is the type of data handled and the tools used to
analyze it.
◼ Traditional data analytics relies on statistical methods and tools
like structured query language (SQL) for querying databases.
◼ Big data analytics involves massive amounts of data in various
formats, including structured, semi-structured and unstructured
data. Big data analytics employs advanced techniques
like machine learning and data mining to extract information
from complex data sets
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What are the advantages of Big Data Analytics?

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 Types of Big Data Analytics
Descriptive Analytics
❑ is the process of analyzing historical data to understand

what has happened in the past. It focuses on

summarizing and interpreting data to provide insights
into past performance and trends. Descriptive
analytics answers the question, "What happened?“
❑

Use Case: The Dow Chemical Company analyzed its

past data to increase facility utilization across its office
and lab space. Using descriptive analytics, Dow was
able to identify underutilized space. This space
consolidation helped the company save nearly US $4
million annually.

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 Types of Big Data Analytics
Diagnostic Analytics
❑ Investigates past data to understand the root causes of
events, behaviors, and outcomes, helping businesses
and organizations identify trends and make more
informed decisions.

Use Case: An e-commerce company’s report shows

that their sales have gone down, although customers
are adding products to their carts. This can be due to
various reasons like the form didn’t load correctly, the
shipping fee is too high, or insufficient payment
options. This is where you can use diagnostic analytics
to find the reason.

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 Types of Big Data Analytics
Predictive Analytics
❑ uses historical data and statistical algorithms to forecast
future events. It aims to predict what is likely to happen
based on past trends and patterns. Predictive analytics
answers the question, "What could happen?".

Use Case: PayPal determines what kind of precautions

they have to take to protect their clients against
fraudulent transactions. Using predictive analytics, the
company uses all the historical payment data and user
behavior data and builds an algorithm that predicts
fraudulent activities.

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 Types of Big Data Analytics
Prescriptive Analytics
❑ goes beyond describing the best course of action based on
data recollecting past events or predicting future outcomes
to, using techniques like machine learning and simulation to
optimize decision-making
❑

Use Case: A Training Manager uses predictive analysis to discover

that most learners without a particular skill will not complete the
newly launched course. What could be done? Now, prescriptive
analytics can be of assistance in determining options for action.
Perhaps an algorithm can detect the learners who require that new
course but lack that particular skill and send an automated
recommendation that they take an additional training resource to
acquire the missing skill.

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Types of Big Data Analytics

◼ Descriptive vs Predictive vs Prescriptive Analytics Descriptive

Analytics is focused solely on historical data. You can think of
Predictive Analytics as then using this historical data to
develop statistical models that will then forecast about future
possibilities. Prescriptive Analytics takes Predictive Analytics a
step further and takes the possible forecasted outcomes and
predicts consequences for these outcomes.

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The Lifecycle Phases of Big Data Analytics

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 Uses and Examples of Big Data Analytics

◼ There are many different ways that Big Data analytics can be used in
order to improve businesses and organizations. Here are some
examples:
❑ Using analytics to understand customer behaviour in order to
optimize the customer experience.
❑ Predicting future trends to make better business decisions.

❑ Improving marketing campaigns by understanding what

works and what doesn’t.

❑ Increasing operational efficiency by understanding where
bottlenecks are and how to fix them.
❑ Detecting fraud and other forms of misuse sooner.

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 Uses and Examples of Big Data Analytics

◼ Risk Management
❑ Use Case: Banco de Oro, a Phillippine banking company,

uses Big Data analytics to identify fraudulent activities and

discrepancies. The organization leverages it to narrow down
a list of suspects or root causes of problems.

◼ Product Development and Innovations

❑ Use Case: Rolls-Royce, one of the largest manufacturers of

jet engines for airlines and armed forces across the globe,
uses Big Data analytics to analyze how efficient the engine
designs are and if there is any need for improvements.

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 Uses and Examples of Big Data Analytics

◼ Quicker and Better Decision Making Within Organizations

❑ Use Case: Starbucks uses Big Data analytics to make strategic decisions.

For example, the company leverages it to decide if a particular location

would be suitable for a new outlet or not. They will analyze several
different factors, such as population, demographics, accessibility of the
location, and more.
◼ Improve Customer Experience
❑ Use Case: Delta Air Lines uses Big Data analysis to improve customer

experiences. They monitor tweets to find out their customers’ experience

regarding their journeys, delays, and so on. The airline identifies negative
tweets and does what’s necessary to remedy the situation. By publicly
addressing these issues and offering solutions, it helps the airline build
good customer relations.

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 Uses and Examples of Big Data Analytics
• E-commerce - Predicting customer trends and optimizing
prices are a few of the ways e-commerce uses Big Data
analytics.

• Marketing - Big Data analytics helps to drive high ROI

marketing campaigns, which result in improved sales.

• Education - Used to develop new and improve existing courses

based on market requirements

• Healthcare - With the help of a patient’s medical history, Big

Data analytics is used to predict how likely they are to have
health issues

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 Uses and Examples of Big Data Analytics

• Media and entertainment - Used to understand the demand of

shows, movies, songs, and more to deliver a personalized
recommendation list to its users
• Banking - Customer income and spending patterns help to
predict the likelihood of choosing various banking offers, like
loans and credit cards
• Telecommunications - Used to forecast network capacity and
improve customer experience
• Government - Big Data analytics helps governments in law
enforcement, among other things

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 End!!!!

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