Big Data: Using Smart Big Data Analytics And Metrics To Make Better Decisions And Improve Performance, by Bernard Marr

I had requested this book from my library some time ago but it took a long time for the book to be returned by the other people who had requested it so that it could, at length, arrive to me. It was worth the wait, not because this book was particularly novel or groundbreaking in its approach, but rather because what it had to say about the use of data was insightful and well-supported by others, and because it verbalized both what people really want out of big data and also what they fear about it at the same time, giving praise to potential but also showing concern about the inevitable regulatory follow-up as well as the increasing restraint that civil governments will put on their citizens in order to prevent and quickly arrest for crimes. This is a book that can be read with profit by anyone who is familiar with data acquisition, analysis, and reporting, and those of us who have a professional interest in the field will find much in the book worthy of reflection and implementation.

In terms of its contents, the author is straightforward in organizing this book according to easy-to-remember acronymns and other memory aids. After an introduction that promotes smarter business practices and the comprehensive use of data by cutting-edge companies, the author organizes the rest of the material around a five-step process with the acronym SMART: Start with strategy, measure metrics and data, apply analytics, report results, and transform business. These five steps offer a way for business and other institutions to first determine what they need in order to achieve their mission statements, then go about finding that data either within their existing sources or by finding new data that answers those questions, then analyzes the data in order to gain insight from it to aid in decision-making, then reports the key data in user-friendly infographics that correspond to the best practices for comprehension noted by Tufte and others [1], that can then be used to dramatically change not only the decisions that are made, but also the way that decisions are made. In particular, the author strenuously argues for a recognition of the limitations of data, much of which requires further investigation rather than confusing correlation with causation, but equally strenuously argues that people should replace a reliance on flawed and lazy intuition and assumption with the acquisition and use of sound amounts of data that present a better and more accurate view of reality than our own unaided human reasoning.

Compared to many of its glossy and hype-driven competitors in the crowded field of Big Data consulting [2],what this book has to offer is not only cheerleading of Big Data or its uses, nor even a presentation of the excesses of Big Data as being an inevitable fait accompli that cannot be stopped, but rather a presentation of notable and important ways that companies and governments and other institutions are using data so that best practices can be copied, and so that people can decide through their own behavior and the political process how they wish for their data to be used by companies and governments. The author wisely suggests that many data practices lack transparency and invite the potential of massive lawsuits, but that the wise use of data by people with ethical aims and high moral standards offers great promise. That said, the author openly questions who will be watching the watchers to make sure that data that is collected on people is used in a responsible and ethical manner, as that cannot simply be assumed because neither businesses nor government can be blindly trusted. The matter of fact advice that the author gives to companies to eschew the search for sexiness in big data and focus on what works best, from a use of one’s internal customer data to the seemingly boring field of reporting data, is also very much appreciated. For those involved in the gathering, analysis, and use of data, this book is a welcome read in providing a reasoned and balanced view that avoids hype and focuses on what good data can do for customers as well as companies.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/book-review-information-dashboard-design/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/book-review-envisioning-information/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/07/13/book-review-visual-explanations/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/book-review-the-visual-display-of-quantitative-information/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/07/10/book-review-the-cognitive-style-of-power-point/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/book-review-beautiful-evidence/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/book-review-big-data-work/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/09/01/book-review-dataclysm/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/book-review-dataism/