The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), (Nigeria), and the PwC have reiterated the need for business analysts to acquire the right skills and develop the right approach to leverage ever expanding concept of ‘BIG DATA’, to better enhance their organisations’ efficiency.

According to IIBA, the Business Analysts changing roles are evident in creating avenues for “stakeholders to understand the structure, policies and operations of an organisation and to recommend solutions that enable the organisation to achieve its goals”.

How Big Is Big Data?
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), in 2011, 1.8Zetabytes, approximately 1.8 trillion Gigabytes of information were created worldwide; in 2012, the number reached 2.8Zetabytes and estimated to hit 40Zetabytes.

It is believed that 2.0Zetabytes of data is equivalent to 57million iPads.

Speaking at IIBA Nigeria- Lagos City Chapter, June 2015 meeting on the theme “The Enterprise Value of Big Data in Business Analysis‎”, ‎Olusola Osinoiki, senior manager/ proposition lead, Enterprise Data Solutions, PwC, United Kingdom, said that the concept has become now pronounced following the emergence of cloud-based technology.

In live demo using World Beta technology to measure global data creation, he found that 74.8 billion active app sessions were recorded within an hour the IIBA meeting started.

According to him, in as much as the Internet will cause ‘disruptions’ in organisations and the society in general, the important of Big Data revolves around using right skills to harness accurate data to make informed decisions.

Meanwhile, a study by PwC tagged “Key Trends in Human Capital 2014: A New vision for Growth” told the story of a downturn with a very noticeable human capital impact that “those that had survived some harsh workforce cuts were left disengaged, with the youngest generation of workers suffering the most”.

“Today, the story is very different. The regions hit hardest are accelerating out of recession and organisations are focused again on growth. But the recovery has brought with it some familiar problems – low employee engagement, wage inflation in some markets and most importantly, skills shortages”.

In a similar ‎study PwC found that availability of key skills and talents remains a priority for CEOs as 55% of them are determined to increase their headcounts in the next 12 months; 94% of whom are having robust diversity of strategy to place as a key step to solving their problems.

But, 73% of these CEOs are concerned about harnessing the right skills to drive growth, even as 64% CEOs fee their HR department is not well-positioned to address the changes required and opportunities for growth over the next 12 months.

How Big Data Change Business Analysis:
Taking a cue from the study, Osinoiki said that HR professionals and Business Analysts in Nigeria are expected to adapt to the new world of work as strategic workforce planning becomes a critical differentiator in organisations.

He said agility and business designs in organizations are data driven while business intelligence, IT, cloud computing, among others are impacting business decision making processes around the world.

‎To be more relevant in the new era, Osinoiki affirmed that Business Analysts must not shy away from “thinking of the impact of self service; turn unstructured data into actionable intelligence; turn structured data into applicable intelligence. The truth is that Big Data is not new. It has been with us, but the internet and mobile devices have revolutionised the concept. We must think and act fast to sure our relevance in our respective organisations and the trend will continue to grow”.

HR With The Power Of Data
“With the right skills; having access to a deep reservoir of ‘BIG Data’, provides an organisation with opportunities to gather ‘BIG Analytics’ for right decision making in terms of investments, delivering on business plans, keep abreast of regulations and diversifying processes to be in line with international standards”, the Guest Speaker said.

Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek at the Forum, John Ojurabesa, director, Sponsorship and Marketing, IIBA Nigeria, said that ‎the concept of Big Data has completely changed the way business are currently managed and indeed the solutions the Business Analyst provide.

He said that the advent of cloud-based technology has ushered in an era where organisations are able to store and utilisevast amounts of data at a fraction of the cost and manpower required in the past.

“Current estimates suggest that we are creating over two quintillion bytes of data every day and approximately 90 per cent of the data that exists today was created in the past two years.

“Businesses have to respond to this growing amount of data and its complexity which include new risks and challenges of openness and security and the need to respond with instant feedback publicly like on Twitter businesses need to adapt to.

“With the right skills, access to a deep reservoir of big data provides organisations with the opportunity to gather ‘Big Analytics’ which in turn can provide CEOs with ‘Big Insights’ into their organisations,”Ojurabesa said.

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) is a non-profit professional association which commenced in October 2003 with the purpose of supporting and promoting the discipline of business analysis.

Over the years, IIBA helps business analysts develop their skills and further their careers by providing access to relevant content.
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Thus,  the Director, Sponsorship and Marketing, IIBA Nigeria, encouraged other Business Analysts in the country to join IIBA Nigeria, adding that, “When you join IIBA, you become part of a global network of Business Analysts practitioners, and have access to a range of valuable benefits.

“Joining demonstrates your commitment to professional development, and unlocks access to a range of networking and development opportunities, learning opportunities and discounts”.