大数据：新的自然资源

想想吧, 每一分钟，每一瞬间，只要我们在网上，我们就在各种无穷尽的数据中找寻什么。

当你浏览到一个网站，你的大脑开始兴奋。你会象被训练过一样对各条新闻, 视频片段，广告和链接做出排名，分析，确定优先次序，淘汰等各种选择.这样你就可以快速查找信息- 当然当你有足够时间的时候,你也可以信马由缰。在Facebook上，当你向下滚动新闻提要，你的大脑会迅速反应,根据你在线上和线下学到的关于你的朋友和同事的一切,包括他们目前的兴趣爱好，对每一个更新进行分类处理。

为什么说这是件了不起的大事呢？当数据成为一种任何人都可以掘取的资源，决策权也就少数人手中转让出来，并且变成公众讨论的的焦点问题。过去，只有统计学家，受过培训的业界专家，或是能操作超级计算机的信息学家们手中，才握有强有力的分析工具。

但现在我们有数据和触手可及的数据平台、众包门户网站，以及帮助我们分析和操作数据的应用程序，这是前所未有的。只要你想得到，就可以向下挖掘到几乎每一件事，无论是我们的投资与退休计划,地方学校社区信息, 又或是人类祖先历史, 以及旅行计划选择等等。从Spotify(音乐下载)到Pinterest(图片式社交网站), 这些服务都依赖于我们对数据的分类,分析以及更多的利用.

这不仅让我们作为消费者感觉更有信心, 同时对于我们的工作职业及公司来说意义也很重大。正因为数据资源变得容易获取,分析数据的专业能力就成为了一个竞争优势。正如其他的自然资源,数据也可以被当作商品,只要将其与其他一些有价值的信息结合起来,就能够帮助个人在职场中脱颖而出,帮助公司成为其所在产业中的佼佼者.

要做到这一点，公司就需要运用大数据和分析平台／工具来武装我们，使我们更好了解我们的公司业务和手里的工作。我们需要学习如何使用这些工具来了解每一个雇用决策和客户服务问题，不单单是跟踪过去发生了什么，更多的是要知道过去为什么会这样发生，未来有可能会发生什么，以及什么才是我们需要采取的最佳措施。只有这样，我们才可以真正明白为什么许多客服电话的结果都非常糟糕，我们怎么提高自己才能使自己时时处于市场的不败之地。

通过使用数据和分析，而不只是本能和直觉，我们可以使我们的企业更具有竞争力。各种大数据技术使我们能够揭示隐藏在海量数据中的内在联系，帮助我们更迅速地针对市场变化做出反应，以满足客户的要求。把数据看成天然资源也可以帮助我们根据这些数据推出新的服务。

如果这个概念有点抽象，让我们一起来看看这些IBM客户是怎样利用大数据来改变自己的：

现在至7月8日止的温布尔登网球锦标赛，正在IBM的云基础架构上运行。温网也依赖于IBM所提供的分析，动态地根据技术需求、流量规律和比赛日程，以及在社交媒体趋势上观察到的球员人气来分配资源。该锦标赛还使用数据对每一场比赛以及计算资源进行分析，这样温网可以在提高效率和控制成本的同时，为球迷提供更好的观赛体验。2013年的温网，Wimbledon.com上有超过1900万独立访客和约4亿3千万的页面浏览量。该类技术同样可运用于零售商和旅游公司这种季节性需求存在高峰的组织。

当墨西哥Barnorte银行的分行还较少时，它了解其每一个客户。但当它扩大成为墨西哥最大的银行之一时，它失去了个性化了解客户的能力。但通过使用大数据和分析，Barnorte可以深入地了解特定客户群的行为特征。该银行正在重新设计其系统，届时，银行员工可以找到产品与客户特殊需求的最佳匹配信息，再次创造出个性化的客户体验。

位于华盛顿州的Point Defiance动物园/水族馆在利用数据帮助做决策前，只能通过猜测作出人员配置和采购决策。现在，动物园通过分析来自美国国家海洋和大气管理局的气候数据，以确定某一天可能有多少访问者参观。动物园还采用了移动通信系统，以确定访问者的最佳访问路线。通过使用这些技术提高决策，动物园可以专注于保护濒危物种的战略使命。

显然，公司机构会因为我们具备了使用数据分析的技能而受益。但我们自己也会从中收益。我们需要新的功能，来帮助我们在这个信息定义的世界脱颖而出。大数据正在重新定义每一个行业和职业，每个人都要把握时机，学习如何充分利用这些数据。

【原文】

Why Big Data Is The NewNatural Resource

By Bob Picciano, Senior Vice President,Information and Analytics, IBM

Think about it. Every minute, every instant thatwe’re online, we’re trying to make sense of a blizzard of data.

When you navigate to a Web site, your brainjumps into action. You’ve been trained to rank, analyze, prioritize, anddismiss a tumble of news headlines, video snippets, ads and links. So you canfind information quickly — or lose yourself when you have time to kill. OnFacebook, as you scroll down your news feed, your mind automatically ticks offand categorizes every new update based on what you’ve learned, online and off,about your friends and colleagues and their current interests and passions.

Why is that a big deal? When data is a resourcethat anyone can mine, then decision-making transitions from being reserved forthe few, and becomes a central issue for the masses. In the past, onlystatisticians, experts trained in their industries, or information scientistsmanaging super computers had powerful analytics tools at their fingertips.

But now we have data and approachabledashboards, crowdsourcing portals, and apps that help us analyze and manipulatedata like no generation before. We can dig down into almost every subjectimaginable, whether it’s investments and retirement plans, local schooldistricts, ancestors or travel options. Services ranging from Spotify toPinterest all rely on us categorizing, analyzing and getting more out of data.

That makes us more powerful as consumers, but italso has huge implications for our careers and our companies. Because even asinformation access is becoming commonplace, the ability to analyze data and addexpertise to it is turning into a competitive advantage. Like any naturalresource, some data can be a commodity. It’s how it’s used in combination withother valuable information sources that can help you stand out in yourprofession or help your company become a leader in its industry.

To make that happen, our companies need to armus—and the rest of our colleagues throughout our organizations—with big dataand analytics platforms and tools so we can understand our businesses and jobs.We need to learn how to use these tools to make sense of everything from hiringdecisions to customer service issues, not simply to track what happened in thepast, but why it happened, what’s likely to occur in the future and what’s thebest course of action to take. So we can help figure out how to keep ahead of anew rival in a market or dig into why a high number of customer service callsare ending poorly.

By using data and analytics, not just instinct,we can make our companies more competitive. Big data techniques allow us touncover hidden connections among huge masses of data so we can react morequickly to changes in the market or customers’ tastes. And looking at data as anatural resource can help us think up new services based on that data.

If this concept seems abstract, consider how theseclients are transforming their organizations:

The Wimbledon Championships,going on now through July 8, operate on a cloud infrastructure from IBM.Wimbledon also relies on IBM analytics to dynamically allocate resources basedon technical needs, traffic patterns, and match schedules, as well as theplayers’ popularity as seen in social media trends. The Championships also usedata analytics to analyze match play, as well as the computing resources, soWimbledon can increase efficiency and control costs while providing a betterfan experience. During The Championships in 2013, there were more than 19million unique visitors and about 430 million page views of Wimbledon.com. Thesame kind of technology can be used by organizations—such as retailers andtravel companies—that also experience peaks in seasonal demand.

When Mexico-based bankBanorte had a smaller number of branches, it knew each of its clientspersonally. But as the bank grew and became one of the largest banks in Mexico,it lost the ability to understand its clients as individuals. By using bigdata and analytics, Banorte can gain insights into the banking behaviors ofspecific customers. The bank is redesigning its systems so that now, bankemployees can access information about what products best suit the unique needsof each customer, creating an experience that feels personal again.

Before Point Defiance Zoo& Aquarium in Washington state became data driven, the zoo made staffingand supply decisions simply by guesswork. Now the zoo analyzes weather datafrom the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to determine how manyvisitors are likely to visit on any given day. The zoo also uses a mobilesystem to determine the best traffic flow of visitors. By using the insightsgained from these technologies, the zoo can focus on its strategic mission ofprotecting endangered species.

Clearlyorganizations benefit from equipping us with the skills needed to use dataanalytics. But it’s good for us too. We need new capabilities to help us excelin a world defined by information. If big data is re-making every industry andprofession, then it’s time we learn how to make the most of that data.