At its Information on Demand Conference, IBM unveiled its latest business analytics appliance, the IBM Netezza Network Analytics Accelerator, which helps communications services providers (CSPs) leverage and gain insights from big data in a timeframe that can make a difference in their business.
The IBM Netezza Network Analytics Accelerator provides an analytics platform that is intended to help CSPs improve network performance and better understand customer experiences. Using the new appliance, IBM says, CSPs can slice and dice customer data to analyze calling plans and contract terms to see which are driving revenue, understand how each customer is using voice and data packages and the impact on network resources, and spot new market opportunities by learning how customers use different types of handsets.
"Consumers are becoming more empowered and increasingly discerning about their service provider choices and how they access information. The fact is, they have more options than ever before," says Scott Stainken, general manager, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry. "Developing a deep understanding of the customer, their experience, and their digital lifestyle means CSPs can better allocate network resources and create more targeted services using IBM analytics. This is both a challenge and opportunity for CSPs, and those that embrace analytics now will gain a competitive advantage."
Citing findings published by the International Telecommunications Union, IBM forecasts that the number of smartphones will increase from 500 million globally today, to almost two billion by 2015 and that smartphone users consume five times more data capacity than users of ordinary mobile phones.
According to IBM, most network analytic offerings only look at specific systems or network devices, retain certain information for a short amount of time, and have limited reporting capabilities and rigid data access, thus inhibiting a CSP's ability to identify patterns and trends or ask questions on-the-fly. Netezza analytics, IBM says, can view all customer data and speed up the flow for instant analysis on demand.
Using Netezza, CSPs can prevent network disruptions, create targeted marketing programs and further monetize the data. For example, users who look at sports sites between identified peak hours on particular handsets may switch to another service provider or decide to stay with their existing provider based on behavioral triggers generated by marketing campaigns.
IBM Netezza appliances are workload-optimized systems based on IBM BladeCenter technology that analyze petabytes of data significantly faster than competing options, and at a much lower total cost of ownership.
For information about IBM Netezza, go to www.thinking.netezza.com.