Editor’s Note: The ecosystem of big data analytics, and its intersection with mobile networks and cloud computing has increasing relevance to wireless in areas that include service assurance, customer experience management, mobile marketing, location-based services and more. Here is a look at the week’s big data news.
— Gartner says that “advanced, pervasive and invisible analytics” will be one of the top 10 strategic technology trends in 2015, both in and of itself and as an underlying feature in several related trends. David Cearley, VP and Gartner Fellow, said that the list includes “trends that organizations cannot afford to ignore in their strategic planning processes.”
In terms of analytics, he went on to say, “Every app now needs to be an analytic app. Organizations need to manage how best to filter the huge amounts of data coming from the IoT, social media and wearable devices, and then deliver exactly the right information to the right person, at the right time. Analytics will become deeply, but invisibly embedded everywhere.”
Analytics also are an important feature of several other trends that Gartner noted, including context-rich systems including security that respond to their surroundings, and smart machines.
— A new survey from Telecoms IQ says that more than half of telecom operators struggle with customer insights, and the problem of integrating data from multiple sources is the greatest barrier. Survey respondents also pegged latency of information gathering (36%), the complexity of cross-channel analysis (28%) and getting buy-in and funding for a customer insight program (24%) as current challenges. An infographic on the results is available for download here.
— Recording calls from mobile devices is increasingly being required of financial services companies in the U.S. and Europe, and Ovum argues in a new white paper that analyzing those calls can result in better security and insights for competitive advantage, including potential insight into trading patterns.
“It’s easy to view regulatory compliance as a cost center, but the right technology can turn it into a source of revenue,” said Mark Miller, head of North America at T-Ware Connect, in a statement. T-Ware Connect provides recording solutions for compliance with the recording regulations. “Already some Wall Street banks are using analytics to extract trading pattern insight from their voice recordings. This can be used in a number of ways from spotting wrongdoing to identifying new opportunities. It won’t be long before the wider industry follows this trend.”
–Wearables and wireless data for koalas? It’s happening. The Australian Koala Foundation worked with Australian “Internet of Things” and M2M design company LX Design House to develop a tracking collar for koalas that was able to collect real-time tracking data that was highly accurate, because the animals are difficult to see in the wild due to their camouflage fur and habit of perching high in trees. The foundation hopes to use the information on where koalas are living to protect the forest habitats of the threatened species. The collar also had to provide activity monitoring, a quick-release option, long battery life and be able to operate in thick forest cover — and it had to be thin, because koalas tuck their chins into their chests to rest, according to M2M company Telit Wireless Solutions, which also helped develop the tracking system.
LX eventually developed a point-to-point network using ultra-low-power GPS collars and base stations that provide access to the Internet to backhaul the data. A Telit Wireless Solutions module was used for the base stations.
