Published in CHART Exchange | May 2018 issue
Author: Arvind Gopalakrishnan
'Big Data' is a term you've no doubt heard over the last decade or so. In the wake of the Facebook Cambridge Analytica data breach, we all understand the negative implications, risks and fears that go along with the latest technological evolutions, but how can we make the most of Big Data to safely and responsibly help our businesses in a positive way?
The volume of data has increased exponentially, spurring the need for faster data analysis to provide quick and valuable insights. The value and effectiveness of the data also depends on understanding and formulating the proper queries to direct Big Data projects.
Big Data is analyzed using software specifically designed to handle large, complex data sets. Many Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies specialize in managing complex data that businesses use to turn it into actionable information. Such assessments may be done in-house or externally by a third party who focuses on processing Big Data into digestible formats.
How does your organization use
Big Data to gain a competitive edge?
According to Saptarshi Das, a content writer in the digital marketing space, “Around 80% of unstructured data in organizations has information hidden inside that can be used for fulfilling customer requirements, improving sales figures, enhancing marketing strategies, creating rigid risk management function, and overseeing fraudulence activities. And all this can be done by deploying Big Data analysis in your organization.”
With the help of graphic data visualization, organizations can retrieve all the information required for the successful functioning of their business processes. But what if this information is stored in several places? For example, within every insurance company, there are a range of systems used to collect and analyze data for making important business decisions. This data is rarely gathered from one single source or stored in one single place. Pulling data from Policy Management, Claims and Rating Systems can become time-consuming and often hinders businesses from reaching their prospective goals.
Solutions like EOX Vantage's Enterprise Operating System, allow companies to visualize data with a holistic view of all their business or portfolio processes. The Enterprise Operating System's Insurance Apps give companies the ability to make quick informed decisions by consolidating key data into one secure system that is accessible anywhere from any device. The platform brings data from multiple systems into one easy-to-navigate dashboard, eliminating the need to sort through stacks of excel sheets and other documentation from each division or department, providing faster analysis for more accurate decision-making.
This provides key decision-driving metrics and ratios from a company's distribution network (Agents, Underwriters, Internal staff) and Claims:
Are distribution agents providing the right kind of business? Are they giving the company enough business?
Is the underwriting department efficient? Are they turning things around in a timely fashion?
Are the losses within an acceptable range? Are the right steps being taken to mitigate losses?
With the Enterprise Operating System, companies can also use Big Data for predictive analytics to analyze trends and direct company resources towards what provides the highest ROI. Insights into pricing trends are broken down to help focus marketing efforts, and those will likely yield the highest returns or predict how turnaround time can impact future submissions from agents. This gives insurance market players a path to achieving operational intelligence and gaining control over your Big Data. With the right formula, we can leverage these technological evolutions to create efficiency, reduce cost and increase revenue, but most importantly, change the way we do business for the better.