Russian operator MTS is going to increase the size of its Big Data team from 140 to 260 staff, reports DailyComm. The new roles to be recruited include: Data Scientist, Data Engineer, ETL Developer, DWH Architect, Python Developer, Java Developer, and System Analyst.
There are numerous ways that MTS intends to exploit Big Data. Better analysis of data will help MTS determine where to build base stations, and also where to locate its retail stores. MTS already uses Big Data to inform the credit scoring of customers, manage the planning of transportation, and place targeted advertising.
If risk management is about handling and reducing uncertainty, and analytics helps us to optimize performance, then these tasks must represent two sides of the same coin. To obtain superior operational results we need improved insights, but well-intentioned decisions can be counterproductive if we do not perform a sufficiently complex and comprehensive analysis. Risk occurs when we think we understand the world but have failed to make allowance for all the possible outcomes. Advances in Big Data technology means data-rich businesses like telcos can make more extensive use of data to inform decisions and manage risk. The limiting factor may no longer be the availability of data or the cost of the technology, but finding skilled data workers to recruit. This helps to explain why the position of Data Scientist has been ranked as the most desirable job by Americans for three years running.
Professionals who already use data to manage risk can extend their remit by proactively seeking to influence decisions that will improve the performance of their telco, for example by altering network capex spending to maximize returns, or by setting better and more specific credit limits for new customers. If the scope of risk analysis does not grow then this will invite other kinds of data analysts to move the other way, encroaching on the sphere of influence traditionally occupied by risk managers. The result is that boundaries are blurring in some telcos. These are some of the reasons why senior BT manager Horia Selegean will talk about the relationship between revenue assurance and data governance at the next meeting of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), to be held in London on 7th December; see here if you want to come.