Synopses & Reviews
From the author of the bestselling Competing on Analytics: How to make big data work for your company.We know companies are awash in data; and we know mining and using this data in the right way can turn a mediocre company into a winning one. So how, as a leader, do you make that happen?
In Big Data at Work, Tom Davenport gives managers a concise, nontechnical overview of big data and explains how to exploit the new opportunities it creates. He describes how big and small companies in a variety of industries are already achieving this potential, and he shares a new framework for developing a strategy that managers can put to immediate use.
Cutting through the hype to surface only the information leaders need in order to apply this critical information to their own businesses, Davenport provides a much-needed guide through the data stream. Youll learn:
What makes big data different from analytics and conventional business intelligence
What technology your company needs to handle big data projects
Which aspects of big data make the most sense to apply to your business
What you can learn from start-ups
How to hire, rent, or develop the kinds of people who make big data work
What type of culture and behaviors are needed to support big data projects
Which management approaches are best suited to different types of big data uses
From managing costs and building processes to improving decisions and making an impact, Big Data at Work is the right book for the right timehelping you seize the opportunities that big data presents while helping you think through how to manage that data for the long term.
Review
Its a required reading for managers that need a straightforward, hype-free introduction to big data, a clear and clarifying signal” in the incredible noise around the confusing and mislabeled term.”
ForbesDavenport has written a thought-provoking book about a current topic that is becoming more important to business and individuals every day. Summed up: Highly recommended.” Choice magazine
The book covers all aspects of the issue, from what big data means, to whom you must hire, to what technologies to follow. Its surprisingly easy to read, given the topic, and offers good examples to ponder from startups and large firm.” Globe and Mail
Davenport is a methodologically-sound researcher. His deep interviews and surveys of executives and data scientists set a standard for excellence in an industry where marketing bravado generally supersedes scientific rigor” Information Management (information-management.com)
ADVANCE PRAISE for Big Data at Work:
Jane Griffin, Managing Director Analytics, Deloitte Canada and Americas
Big Data at Work is the first and only book to describe how real organizations are using big data, extracting value from it, and combining it with other forms of data and analytics. Its an invaluable guide to planning and action.”
Jonathan D. Becher, Chief Marketing Officer, SAP
Is Big Data a buzzword or does it have practical applications in business? Big Data at Work goes beyond tech-talk to help businesspeople turn Big Data into Big Decisions.”
Gary L. Gottlieb, MD, MBA, President and CEO, Partners HealthCare System, Inc.; Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Big Data at Work provides a terrific foundation for thoughtful planning to exploit the business opportunities created by diverse and vast sources of information. Davenports clear approach will enlighten managers about the need to carefully mine these resources to improve operations and products while driving new and competitive strategies.”
Rob Bearden, CEO, Hortonworks
Thomas Davenport has supplied a smart, practical book for anyone looking to unlock the opportunitiesand avoid the pitfallsof big data.”
Adele K. Sweetwood, Vice President, Americas Marketing and Support, SAS
Conversational, engaging, and an exceptional guide for decision making in the big data world. Big Data at Work offers insight to the business and technology components of a big data strategy, a path to success, and best practices from across industry sectors.”
Synopsis
Go ahead, be skeptical about big data. The author was--at first.
When the term "big data" first came on the scene, bestselling author Tom Davenport (Competing on Analytics, Analytics at Work) thought it was just another example of technology hype. But his research in the years that followed changed his mind.
Now, in clear, conversational language, Davenport explains what big data means--and why everyone in business needs to know about it. Big Data at Work covers all the bases: what big data means from a technical, consumer, and management perspective; what its opportunities and costs are; where it can have real business impact; and which aspects of this hot topic have been oversold.
This book will help you understand:
- Why big data is important to you and your organization
- What technology you need to manage it
- How big data could change your job, your company, and your industry
- How to hire, rent, or develop the kinds of people who make big data work
- The key success factors in implementing any big data project
- How big data is leading to a new approach to managing analytics
With dozens of company examples, including UPS, GE, Amazon, United Healthcare, Citigroup, and many others, this book will help you seize all opportunities--from improving decisions, products, and services to strengthening customer relationships. It will show you how to put big data to work in your own organization so that you too can harness the power of this ever-evolving new resource.
Synopsis
Go ahead, be skeptical about big data. The author wasat first.When the term big data” first came on the scene, bestselling author Tom Davenport (Competing on Analytics, Analytics at Work) thought it was just another example of technology hype. But his research in the years that followed changed his mind.
Now, in clear, conversational language, Davenport explains what big data meansand why everyone in business needs to know about it. Big Data at Work covers all the bases: what big data means from a technical, consumer, and management perspective; what its opportunities and costs are; where it can have real business impact; and which aspects of this hot topic have been oversold.
This book will help you understand:
Why big data is important to you and your organization
What technology you need to manage it
How big data could change your job, your company, and your industry
How to hire, rent, or develop the kinds of people who make big data work
The key success factors in implementing any big data project
How big data is leading to a new approach to managing analytics
With dozens of company examples, including UPS, GE, Amazon, United Healthcare, Citigroup, and many others, this book will help you seize all opportunitiesfrom improving decisions, products, and services to strengthening customer relationships. It will show you how to put big data to work in your own organization so that you too can harness the power of this ever-evolving new resource.
About the Author
Thomas H. Davenport is a world-renowned thought leader on business analytics and big data, translating important technological trends into new and revitalized management practices that demonstrate the value of analytics to all functions of an organization. He is the Presidents Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, a fellow of the MIT Center for Digital Business, cofounder and Director of Research at the International Institute for Analytics, and a senior adviser to Deloitte Analytics. Davenport is the author or coauthor of seventeen books, including the bestselling
Competing on Analytics, as well as the author of dozens of articles for
Harvard Business Review.