Sunil Wattal

Here are my biggest takeaways:
1. Data Analytics can be successfully implemented if the organization culture is aligned for data driven decision making
2. Leadership plays an important role to drive Data Driven culture across the organization
3. Data Visualization tools are important to communicate the organizations most pressing data needs
4. Data Analytics Challenge and Group Project allowed to apply the learings into real work situation

I think it was both interesting and important to learn that data analytics can be used in every industry to optimize and improve business processes and decisions. Similarly, most analytics techniques are the same across industries, so having this background is important no matter what company you work for. Although I thought KPIs and good visualizations were the most valuable tools in analyzing data, there are a large number of helpful data tools that, when all used together, make for hugely successful IT/ BI initiatives.

My biggest takeaway from MIS5101 was that everybody wants to use data analytics and visualization to improve business practices and drive shareholder value, but not everybody knows how. Understanding data and implementing business intelligence tools is more challenging than using a “gut reaction” or qualatative assumptions to make decisions. Many organizations do not have the personnel capable of using these tools, or the leadership willing or able to lead strategically using them. By entering into the business world with experience and eagerness to use data analytics and visualization, we will have a competitive advantage over more traditional-style leaders.

My biggest takeaway from this course is that the efficient use of data analytics involves embedding it in every business process, collecting and presenting results in simple yet exhaustive visuals and finally drawing critical insights from the data presented, the insights that further help in the business decision process. Companies that have the capabilities to do so, gain a significant competitive advantage over the companies that neglect the importance of data analytics.

My biggest takeaway from the class is that major decisions are based on data rather than the gut feeling of the managers. This is applicable to companies of all sizes. Analytics and visualizations aid in this decision making process and they should be simple for the message to be effective. We need to keep a look out of incorrect and misleading visualizations.

What I really enjoyed was hearing everyone participate during class. As a non-Fox Business School student, my program is in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, it was truly a pleasure listening to the Fox students get involved in the course material and really present themselves at a high standard. Gave me a good idea of what and who else is out there in various business sectors. Plus, class content was easily relatable to my career and academic interests so that’s always a positive!
Thank you all!

My biggest takeaways from this course are:
1. Use of SQL Workbench: This is a core skill, which I had a rough idea about, but never had the opportunity to get hands on experience on it.
2. What is big data really all about? It is about having huge volumes of data, but the key to analyzing this data lies in sifting through all the data to find the most relevant and key insights and translating this into valuable information which can be easily understood.
3. The Data Analytics Challenge was a huge learning experience where we got to put our skills to the real test. Our team performed really well, getting to the last stage.
4. The skill of creating an infographic: I created two infographics for this course. This (data analytics challenge and group project) really helped me in analyzing large data sets to present information in the form of a good visual, thus enhancing my skill on Piktochart.

Besides learning knowing how to use visualization programs such as Tableau my biggest takeaway was understanding the difference between knowledge, data, and information. Knowledge is what we know, personal map of the world. Data are the facts or descriptions of the world. We can capture data in information, then move it around for analysis.

What I’ve learned is that data is collected in almost every aspect of a person’s life, from using your cell phone to grocery shopping to receiving healthcare. That data can be collected and analyzed in variety of ways. Ultimately, the goal of all this data collection and analysis is generate more revenue for corporations who provide you services.

The biggest learning opportunities for me were the in class exercises. For example, while a lecture on SQL and databases is key to understanding their framework, being able to sit down and play with finding things in a database shows you the business value. The same can be said for the pivot table and ERD exercises, I would definitely want these to be in future versions of this class. If I had to explain what this course was about I would say to understand the distinction between data, information, and knowledge and how each of those three can improve your business through the vessel of technology.

The biggest takeaway for me from this class was that the use of data analytics across industries is as prevalent and robust as ever. However, challenges exist as companies move to be more data-driven in their actions. The use of data to present ideas and make decisions can be complicated and leave people feeling more confused. One of the key things I took away from this course is to ensure that the data is presented in such a manner that tells a clear story and provides insights that can lead to more efficient strategies and operations. Also, people need to adjust their mindset to be more data-driven so as to be able to have the conversations and an understanding of the power of the analytics.

What I will remember most is some things to watch out for when moving toward being more data driven. The readings have shown some issues regarding personal safety versus the “greater good”, the role of technology on the industry (in terms of in what role publishers (or others) now fit), and accuracy versus access. Despite potential drawbacks, the course has shown that those who navigate these well will see great benefits by using data driven decision making (netflix, cheezburger, call center retention case).

Further, just as important as the actual data is the way that it is presented. It is absolutely necessary to ensure the data is clear and easy to understand or else it will not be used. The story must be crystal clear.

Before joining this course, I was not aware that data could be used in so many different ways. And each persons perspective could lead into analyzing it in different ways to the need of the business and coming up with the quantitative solutions for the problems. Through our project I realized that there is a strong connection in real world between the data and the process followed either to gather the data, to analyse it and convert it to strategic recommendations.

Takeaways:
1. Use of data and importance of having proper data.
2. Use of various tools for various reasons – “One size doesn’t fit all”
3. Ethical issues of using data and protecting it.

This class was highly valuable in my understanding of Business Intelligence and how the “game” is played on the global scale. One of the biggest things that have stuck with me was the data-information-knowledge-wisdom process. I feel I can apply that to many different things in my life. I love technology and business analytics and this class facilitated my passion for the arts. I hope that I may continue using what I’ve learned in this class for years to come. Thank You.

My most important takeaway from this course is the way data analytics have influenced the decision-making process in today’s world. Also, it is important to present the analyzed data visually in such a way that is easy to understand, coveys the information properly, and visually appealing.

The learning from all the in-class exercises and take-home assignments is very valuable to me. Having a business education background and having no knowledge on technical concepts like SQL and ER modeling, I learnt to use the technology to make things simpler and easier while dealing with big data. I had to watch at least 10 videos and spend hours in solving a single SQL query but, everything was worth my efforts is what I’d say!
I never knew about the online info-graphic making website until I was given the assignment. It was fun creating and sharing other teams’ info-graphic in class!

My biggest takeaway from MIS 5101 is how to analyze big data and more importantly how to visualize this data to others. I learnt some of the very important concepts like SQL- for data extraction and info graphics for data presentation, which will be immensely helpful to me even if I shape my career outside IT.

If I had to explain a scholar what MIS 5101 is about? I would say it’s all about data extraction and presentation. Practically speaking, in today’s era when you are surrounded by data, it is really important to understand what data is useful and how will you extract it. Also, this exercise is more useful if you are able to present this data more effectively and info-graphics rightly taught us to do so.

In this course, my biggest takeaway is that everyone wants to use data effectively but no one knows how.. That being said, the most tangible aspect of this course was using the ER Modeling and SQL programs. I was hoping to use more of these. The way I see is it if you understand the current ways in which people are manipulating and coding data then can be part of the solution and hopefully figure out new ways to analyze and ultimately use Big Data.The bottom line is the usage of data is powerful and cannot be ignored as it has continually been proved to be a more effective way of making important business decisions.

The biggest takeaway for myself would be just the power of data and the need for all corporations to integrate data analytics into their business is some capacity. Whether it be finding out more about a specific customer segment or doing market research, data can only help in the decision making process. I would tell a future MIS5101 student that this course is not only about how to incorporate analytics into daily business operations, but it is about how to best use data and how to properly make decisions based off of your findings. This course helps in taking that next step of actually utilizing the data to tell a story or gain a specific outcome.

The biggest take away was strategy being data driven. The business world will be dominated by organizations who have learned how to use data and CRM tools to understand their customers and the way people behave. That will be the key difference between the very successful companies and those in the middle of the road.
The course was about how data is being collected in amounts just over the past few years more than ever before. Organizations are understanding the necessity of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting all of this data to find trends, forecast, and understand consumer behaviors. Articles and case studies give examples of how organizations handle big data, what tools they use and why to differentiate themselves from competitors.

After reflecting for 100 seconds, I feel the most important takeaway from the course is not so much the specific tools we learned to use, but the importance of data analytics in informing important decisions. I learned how to use data analytics to solve problems, offer new solutions, and most importantly, to tell a persuasive story. I most enjoyed the data visualization aspect of the course, and feel telling a story through dat visualization is the most valuable skill I will take from the course.

My biggest takeaway is that managers need not be experts in the generating/capturing information in order to maximize the knowledge potential of the company. By having a broad understanding of overarching data philosophy and strategy, managers can delegate data strategy to specialized experts and instead allocate their time to the interpretation and application of those specialist’s findings. Given the infancy of Big Data, even achieving a 5-10% increase in insight capabilities can be devastating to the competition. Slow playing cultivating a knowledge culture simply because we can’t achieve “100%” of the vision is a sure route to a competitive disadvantage.