Aussie partner splits business for big data

Local IBM partner Certus has split its business analytics (BA) and information management (IM) into two separate units as it looks to maximise its opportunities in the burgeoning market for big data solutions.

“It made perfect sense for us,” noted Tom Reich, Certus general manager, information and business analytics.

“We have quite a portfolio of solutions and technologies and because of that we needed two heads to lead the vision for the company, and to understand where things are going and what is happening in the marketplace.”

Reich made two new appointments to lead the two new business lines - Julien Redmond has come on board as general manager, information management, while Dannielle Nguyen has joined as general manager, business analytics.

“Though information management and business analytics often go hand in hand, they now need to be managed as two very distinct offerings due to their increasing complexity,” Reich said. “Analytics isn’t just about business intelligence, reporting and analysis for finance, operations and sales functions any more.

“Information Management is no longer just data warehousing and data management. Now it’s all about big data and information governance as well as data quality,” he added.

Certus has had significant growth over the last few years selling technologies from within the IBM portfolio, Reich said.

“Not only does IBM have a huge appetite for new technologies, but the market is constantly asking us for new things,” he noted.

Naturally big data is the latest new thing, but he said many companies are still grappling with what value they can extract from the hose-pipe of data coming out of social media and other networks.

“At the moment it’s really the telcos and financial services that are the first movers in this area, but I think over time we are going to see more B to C companies coming on board,” he said.

In particular, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) is seen as a growth area, with companies able to see in real time the consumer response to their product and then plan and tweak appropriately.

Reich cites as an example the potential for social media services like Twitter and Facebook to support marketing campaigns woven into popular TV programs. At the backend of the campaign, mining tweets and hashtags, as well as mentions on sites such as Facebook, can provide a consumer-oriented company with virtual real-time feedback on its campaign, and on the product.

All this represents exciting opportunities for Certus, said Reich. “We’re really well positioned to take advantage of these trends in the market. We have a significant presence on the east coast, and we’re expanding into WA, New Zealand and Queensland.”

Certus came into its current form seven years ago when it acquired Reich’s business intelligence company Focus.

Hard to define

Talking about big data is all the rage at the moment, but it's nevertheless a term that’s slippery and difficult to nail down.

“It’s an esoteric term,” Reich said. “People think it refers to massive volumes of data, but that’s not always the case. It also refers to the speed of data, and the data types.”

Much of the data acquired for big data analytics comes from the social sphere – sources such as Twitter and Facebook. In many ways, big data and social media go hand in hand.

Many of the companies coming to Certus for assistance with their big data needs are, by the nature of their businesses, early adopters. According to Reich, the two main verticals interested in understanding their big data needs are the telecoms industries, and also financial services.

“It’s very much a business to consumer play at the moment,” he said. “Big data is the next level of B to C,” he added. “Companies want to understand how their product is performing in the marketplace, what people are saying about it.”

In other words, it’s about capturing real time market feedback, and then having the resources to act on that information. “It’s about leading indicators, rather than lagging indicators.”