In a world of changing fortune for many household name retail chains, the use of data to produce usable information has become paramount. According to McKinsey, a retailer using big data to the full could increase its operating margin by more than 60%. The use of sensors in most elements of a store, the Internet of Things, PoS data, supplier data, scheduling data and the like will result in a disproportionate increase in the amount of data to manage and analyse. While most large retail organisations are relatively skilled in the manipulation of Big Data, we believe that Agility DataBroker, a computer software framework from Arjuna, can provide retail organisations with a mechanism to solve current data-related problems, while establishing a framework that will allow them to move towards the Smart Stores of the future.
Agility DataBroker can be initially used for integrating as few as two silos of information, but can scale to an enterprise-wide application.
Retail chains consist of a number of departments each of which needs to use data from a different perspective. As a result of this segmentation, data can be duplicated, errors can proliferate, money can be wasted and decisions are often made without access to the information embedded in the data available. Joined-up thinking is difficult without joined-up data to base it on. Agility DataBroker allows a retail organisation to specify what subset of data is required, where that data goes, who may access it under what circumstances and to combine that data with other data sources so that meaningful information can be extracted.
Data may be collated and cleaned (e.g. all data to do with meat products) or analysed for incongruities. Resultant data can be cross-checked with external data sources such as those held by suppliers, shippers, or growers to better extract meaningful information from the data. For example, debit/credit card information can be collated against the card issuer's database (if allowable) to extract names and addresses for targeted marketing. In a world where the amount of data is growing faster than a retail organisation can use it, Agility DataBroker provides a mechanism to improve services, cut down on waste, and generate information that is meaningful and usable.
The exchange of data between departments or between internal and external users may be controlled through encapsulated service agreements defined as a set of policies that can be changed on the fly if necessary and which specify all critical access criteria.
Agility DataBroker is a framework that allows an organization to unlock the value of data through its controlled consolidation, analysis and distribution. Agility DataBroker allows for data to be extracted from any combination of data sources, whether they sit in the Cloud or locally, under strictly enforced, but dynamically changeable service agreements which govern its use and deployment.
