Lecture on Big Data by Tshepang Pitso

I recently attended a lecture on Big Data by Tshepang Pitso.

Tshepang defined Big Data as the analysis of extremely Large Volumes, extremely High Velocity of data and extremely Wide Variety of Data. Big Data is a current, interesting and important topic. Based on Google trends the topic has grown by 98% in interest since 2010, see Figure 1. There are also multiple providers of Big data, it has gone to cloud provide by Google’s cloud platform (Google).

Figure 1. Google trend

Since the notion of Big Data is new and scholars have suggested that IT trends resemble a Fashion industry, Tshepang’s central claim around the notion of Big Data as a new hype or new reality, is valid. I agree with Tshepang’s arguments, that Big Data is a reality. Although evidential examples are lacking, assumptions can be seen as self-evident. Tshepang used the following assumptions to support his claim that Big Data is a reality:

• Big data is not a temporary fad
• Big data does indeed generate new insights
• Unstructured data is still a challenge to analyse
• Technology is cheaper but still not mature,
• Skills are very rare
• Security and ethical issues

Bellatreche, Kerkad, Breß, and Geniet, (2013, January) supports this claim of analysing data that is still a problem today. In their paper they suggest the use of partitioning schema of a data warehouse, divide and conquer the data into smaller subsets to make it quicker for analysis and to understand.

I think the notion of Big Data lies more in the analysis of different datasets. Even Google markets their Big Data product with functions like BigQuery (Google). I would have liked Tshepang to have “analysed” this part more in his lecture. The challenge of analysing the datasets is the core issue for organisations. Knowing what you already know is at the heart of knowledge management (Stewart, Ruckdeschel, 1998).

I think the reason why Big Data is trending is because organisations want ways to analyse their datasets. I would like to have seen more investigation into why it is a trending topic for managers. I think the main reason is that managers are intrigued by the outcomes of combining multiple datasets in search of patterns and using it to generate more profit. Grenander (1993) suggests that mathematics can be used to generate patterns by using knowledge of the world. Some examples I have noticed are:

• Organisations will analyse customers to force higher sales.
• Taking wide variety of data and understanding individualised use patterns etc.
• Forecasting the extent of man-made disasters can be a possibility in the near future.

But why do organisations have multiple datasets? From my practical experience, companies switch between ERP information systems looking for better supportive technologies, ending up with multiple datasets. So it is understandable that organisations want to analyse these multiple datasets as a whole.

References
Bellatreche, L., Kerkad, A., Breß, S., and Geniet, D. (2013, January). RouPar: Routinely and Mixed Query-Driven Approach for Data Partitioning. In On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems: OTM 2013 Conferences (pp. 309-326). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Google. https://cloud.google.com/products/big-query (last checked 26 September 2013).

Grenander, U. (1993). General pattern theory: A mathematical study of regular structures. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Stewart, T., and Ruckdeschel, C. (1998). Intellectual capital: The new wealth of organizations. Performance Improvement, 37(7), 56-59

IS debates at FedGroup

FedGroup currently has three major IS discussions. They are Enterprise Architecture, IT reliability and efficiency and E-Commerce. 

IT reliability and efficiency is of concern to FedGroup because it has a parallel running Software development team,   an In house development team and an Outsourcing team. IT reliability and efficiency was ranked 5th highest in IT management issues with the study done by Luftman and Zadeh (2011). As IT is seen as a fashion trend, it must be noted that the discussion around IT reliability and efficiency isn’t because it was ranked 5th highest, It is because running parallel teams on one project is a difficult process to run effectively.

The enterprise architecture is also high on Luftman and Zadeh (2011) IT management issues, it ranked 12th globally. But again, this is not because it is fashionable to talk about enterprise architecture. FedGroup has started with a small scale software platform, called Azurite Key, running one of their business units. Through the years FedGroup expanded their core business to offer a more comprehensive product suite to their clients. They expanded the Azurite Key system to run these new products, ultimately changing the core concepts that the first system was built on. The enterprise architecture discussion is a way for the IT team to create new standards and designs for the Azurite Key system.

The E-Commerce discussion is based on a recent requirement from stakeholders to interact with FedGroup. This again is proof that even though E-Commerce published articles was at its height in 1999, some organisations still see this as a trending topic with questions that still needs answers.

I tend to research articles that can shed some light onto problems that FedGroup faces.  I give advice, build systems and support these discussions daily by giving my knowledge acquired from previous companies and academia.

References

Luftman, J. and H. S. Zadeh (2011). Key Information Technology and Management Issues 2010–11: An International Study. Journal of Information Technology, 3(26), 193-204.

The words Fashion and Information Technology can't be used in the same sentence

The notion that trends in Information Systems (IS) resemble that of Fashion industry trends is annoying to say the least. In this response I will firstly, visually show how the patterns differ between IS trends and Fashion trends published in related articles. Then I will argue types of questions that researchers ask there respondents to support the notion of Fashion. Lastly, I will show why the notion of Fashion can be rejected by comparing so called “old fashion innovations” which is still an issue for todays IS managers.

Because Fashion is transient in nature, it exhibits upswings and downswings. As shown in Figure 1, how skirt width measurements in England and France deviated from the mean from 1954 to 1990. Some researchers try to associate this trend with that of IS.

Figure 1. Curran, L. (1999). An Analysis of Cycles in Skirt Lengths and Widths in the UK and Germany, 1954-1990

For instance the Wang (2010) stated that the innovations in Figure 2 came into fashion and peaked at a point in time. We cannot relate Figure 2 with Figure 1. Figure 1 moves unpredictably like fashion does where as Figure 2 shows how an innovation came into IS, gained interest to a peak, and then died off.  Gill and Bhattacherjee (2009) called this pattern The Completion of a Successful Informing Process. I agree with this notion of the IS pattern.

Figure 2. Wang, P. (2010). Chasing the Hottest IT: Effects of Information Technology Fashion on Organisations

Then researchers go to some extremes to support their notion of Fashion. Basaglia, Caporarello, Magni, and Pennarola (2008) asked the questions in Figure 3 to support their hypotheses that “Greater fashion setter pressure, will lead to greater intent to adopt”. The questions asked are clearly not a representation of what fashion is or isn’t.

Figure 3. Basaglia, S., Caporarello, L., Magni, M., and Pennarola, F. (2008). Environmental and organizational drivers influencing the adoption of VoIP

Innovation like Knowledge Management (KM), E-Commerce, Data warehouse(DW), Customer relationship management(CRM), Business process reengineering(BPR) are all claimed to be a fashion hype (Raub and Rüling, 2001; Scarbrough and Swan, 2001; Basaglia et al, 2008; Baskerville and Myers, 2009; Wang, 2010). But all of these relate to a study by Luftman and Zadeh (2011) key Information Technology and Management Issues. How can these innovations be seen as Fashion if it is still an issue for the IT managers of today.

References

Basaglia, S., Caporarello, L., Magni, M., and Pennarola, F. (2008). Environmental and organizational drivers influencing the adoption of VoIP. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 7(1), 103–118.

Baskerville, R. L., and Myers, M. D. (2009). Fashion Waves in Information Systems Research and Practice. MIS Quarterly, 33(4), 647-662.

Curran, L. (1999). An Analysis of Cycles in Skirt Lengths and Widths in the UK and Germany, 1954-1990. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal , 17, 65-72.

Gill, G., and Bhattacherjee, A. (2009). Fashion Waves versus Informing: Response to Baskerville and Myers. MIS Quarterly, 33(4), 667-671.

Luftman, J. and H. S. Zadeh (2011). Key Information Technology and Management Issues 2010–11: An International Study. Journal of Information Technology, 3(26), 193-204.

Raub, S., & Rüling, C.-C. (2001). The knowledge management tussle – speech communities and rhetorical strategies in the development of knowledge management. Journal of Information Technology, 16(2), 113–130.

Scarbrough, H., and Swan, J. (2001). Explaining the Diffusion of Knowledge Management: The Role of Fashion. British Journal of Management, 12(1), 3–12.

Wang, P. (2010). Chasing the Hottest IT: Effects of Information Technology Fashion on Organizations. MIS Quarterly, 34(1), 63-85.