Week 3 - The Big Data Challenges May 2014
Case Study: The Big Data Challenges
Glendoria Early
Strayer University

CIS 500 – Information Systems for Decision Making
Dr. Vince Osisek
May 12, 2014
Case Study: The Big Data Challenges

Week 3 - The Big Data Challenges Page
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What if your car could talk? Well Volvo CIO's had to wonder the same thing as well. Volvo, a Swedish multinational manufacturing company, that not only produce cars, but light and heavy weight trucks as well as buses. Volvo Car Corporation has a history of using innovation to produce premium automobiles. The manufacture chose to rely on information technology to gain the innovative edge to help the company grow by integrating the cloud infrastructure into their networks.
The Volvo Data Warehousing Program, started in 2006 (Data in the Driver's Seat), it draws insight from this multi-terabyte resource to create clear business advantage by integrating information from four primary sources: a system for managing vehicle and hardware specifications, one for managing on-board software specifications, the system that collects vehicle diagnostic data from service centers worldwide, and the warranty administration system. (Tobey, 2010) Joining all the various pieces of data together, Volvo can be warned about potential mechanical issues that may show up in the early part of a car's lifecycle. Volvo can spot patterns from the data that may indicate a potential flaw in a particular part well before a problem from the first 1,000 units can grow into one affecting over 500,000 customers as seen by other manufactures with overwhelming recall numbers. Being proactive will ensure that Volvo can maintain positive experience of the brand with their customers and retain that customer trust.
Forensic examinations of Volvos that have been involved in various kinds of accident can be researched. Having the data stored and being able to extract huge amounts of digital information from a vehicle can allow researchers to make changes to new productions. Teradata (Teradata Enterprise Data Warehouse) enables Volvo to integrate streams of design, warranty, and life cycle operating data on a single analytical platform – which gives Volvo an up-to-the-minute ability to:
Trace mechanical failures to root causes
Understand failure rates over time, including predictive modeling of future trends
Correlate mechanical failures with geography-specific conditions and driving patterns
Prioritize, target, and expedite problem response efforts
Identify and resolve design and manufacturing problems within current production run
Some fixes can be as simple as software updates that can be uploaded to the customer's vehicle the next time a customer is in for a service. Being able to upload the updates ensures the car is going to perform even better to an accident or give instant satisfaction to customer suggestions for touch panels installed in certain vehicles.
Klas Bendrik, Volvo Car Group's CIO, says "It's important for a CIO to be sensing what is happening on the core product side, because if you don't, and you're not proactive, the whole organization might miss out on opportunities." (team, 2013)

Bibliography
Data in the Driver's Seat. (n.d.). Retrieved from Teradata: http://www.teradata.com/customers/manufacturing-volvo/ team, I.-C. e. (2013, January). Volvo's IT leadership fuels race to the connected car. Retrieved from http://www.i-cio.com/profession/cio-profiles/item/volvo-s-it-leadership-fuels-race-to-the-connected-car
Tobey, B. (2010). Data in the driver's seat. Retrieved from Teradata Magazine Online: http://www.teradatamagazine.com/Article.aspx?id=14098