Blog I - Introduction
Introduction:
Hello everyone!
My name is Leeda Nayibzada. I am currently a Business Analyst at Arizona State University.
This past year as a BA I have learned how important and necessary data is and how valuable understanding the data is. I have mainly worked with MySQL but I am now also familiar with Oracle SQL. As a BA I mainly use MySQL for reports. Additionally, I am serve as a liaison to software vendors to accomplish product support and improvement (e.g., bug fixes, feature requests).
I currently live in Mesa. I love exploring in the kitchen with new recipes, listening to podcasts and books and traveling. I hope all us gain valuable knowledge from this course and I am very excited to meet everyone. If you would like to connect, please reach out to me.
Lecture Summary:
The introductory lecture discussed Big data and Business Intelligence. The lecture starts by showing how much data has grown over the years that the volume, variety and velocity of data is growing fast. Big data is causing paradigm shift and in order to collect, process and understand Big Data understanding the characteristics of paradigm shift is important. The first kind is called Datafication, and this means that everything is being tracked in a very detailed way and being able to put these details together can form patterns. The second kind is that data is very dynamic, there are constant comments and posts being made which lets companies target their ads and products. Another kind is that because so many people are using the web it is easier to collect and store data, the need for sampling is gone because now there are populations of data to work with which makes sampling error almost nonexistent. Business Intelligence comes in the picture when deal with Big Data and BI is tools, applications, programing that allows for gathering, storing, cleaning and understanding data. It allows business to make decisions and solve issues. The lecture provided a great introduction to understanding Big Data and Business Intelligence.
Reading Analysis:
"Business Report on Big Data Gets Personal" was a hard read just because it had so much information but it was one of my favorite readings because the articles were a lot about what the use of technology or devices is doing and how personal data is being used or will be used by companies. One of the articles "Why Big Companies Are Investing in Service That Listens to Phone Calls" discusses how some companies are making technologies that will allow them to listen to peoples phone calls. They are saying that the benefit of this would be that they will be able to gather information and then provide solutions or assistances to people if they need them. Another interesting article was "In a Data Deluge, Companies Seek to Fill a New Role" this discussed how new the role of data scientist really is. It has only been around the past five years. Companies and universities are understanding the importances of this role and are preparing for it. Many universities are creating new degrees or trainings that are teaching students how to work with Big Data.
"McKinsey Global Institute - Ten IT Enabled Business Trends for the Decade ahead" was a very interesting read. The trend that I found fascinating was the second one "The Internet of All Things", it discussed how the number of devices connected to networks has increased over the years. This explosion of Internet of Things have provided opportunities for companies to work on themselves and provide better services. Since the data is constantly flowing and increasing, companies will need to apply better analytical tools to really understand and use this trend.
"The Rise of Big Data" talks about how Big Data shows that is a lot more information floating around these days than ever before. The section I found interesting was about how Big Data could become Big Brother, and how it would allow for identification of possible wrongdoers before they even commit a crime. Although it sounds nice to prevent before a crime has even occurred it does not mean that a crime would have even occurred in the first place. This could easily lead to being stigmatized in the eyes of other people. Also if people take something like this very seriously like the government or companies it could ruin a lot of peoples lives.
"Big Data Widens Analytic Talent Gap" discussed how more companies and government agencies are making data driven decisions and this is leading to hiring more analytics and information management expertise. A survey was done using individuals who work in BI, analytics and information management and it showed that about 50% of individuals whether they are staff or managers are satisfied with their job, which includes compensation, benefits and other aspects of employment relationship. Also about 50% of staff and managers believe a career path in IT and potential for salary advancement are as promising today as they were five years ago. overall people in IT roles like being in the field and are somewhat satisfied with their positions.
"What is Big Data" was the last reading and one of my favorites. I did not know much about Big Data before this weeks materials but have definitely learned a lot with the readings. The reading talks about how nowadays almost any action that people take leave a digital trail and that it is very easy to generate date almost where ever we go and what ever we do. Big Data is being used in almost every field (healthcare, preventing natural and man made disasters, and preventing crimes). However there are also a lot of concerns around Big Data, such as data privacy, data security and data discrimination. Big Data is being used a lot by companies, they view them as strategic assets to strive and thrive in the business world.
Personal Opinion:
I joined this class not really understanding a lot about BI and didn't know anything about Big Data. After this week I do feel like I have a better understanding and now know how huge of an impact Big Data has on the world and how every company, government agencies and education are using it to better themselves and thrive with it. As exciting as Big Data is, I have also learned that it brings with it a lot of problems (user privacy). I look forward to learning more throughout this course and hopefully have a better understand of BI and how I can use it in my current role and in future roles.
Hi Leeda.. great bio and introduction , it is nice to know you have a background in SQL. I am taking a few online courses now to get better understanding of that programing language. I know it will come in handy during the course of the MIS program. I serve as a BA myself but my role is less technical and more business process transformation. I do however use tools such as tableau to perform ad-hoc reports to answer some of the business questions that I encounter.
ReplyDeleteGreat article as well.. Most companies seems to be switching to a cloud based applications due to some of the features it brings. But I think overall the most important reason I see as to why cloud is the prefer choice is the potential for cost savings. Most cloud based applications eliminate the need for physical storage at the local business facility and licensing of cloud based applications are cheaper as well. Nice to meet you and looking forward to networking through this class.
Thank you Seth for your comment. I also had to take a few SQL courses when I first started as a BA. The courses were really helpful and they are offered by Linkedin Learning. I haven't worked with Tableau at all, and I believe we will be using it during this class I am very excited to learn more about it as my workplace uses it a lot. I do agree with you in that the main reason cloud is being used the most if because of the cost. It was great meeting you.
DeleteHello Leeda! It is nice to take another course together with you! I hope that your MIS experience continues to be positive and productive.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you highlighting the "Why Big Companies Are Investing in Service That Listens to Phone Calls" article. I also wonder whether companies are using the current speech-to-text capacities on most smartphones for similarly altruistic goals or whether they are selling these repackaged data to advertisers.
Thank you for highlighting "The Internet of All Things" from "Ten IT Enabled Business Trends for the Decade ahead." I also think that this topic is fascinating. This type of technologies provide so much flexibility, but at the same time seem to make us more vulnerable since most of those devices do not have good security measures in place.
Hello, you are right that most of those devices do not have good security measures in place. I think a lot of the devices don't right now. I hope this changes in the future especially since as a society we depend so much on technology devices.
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