Client productivity to be driven by ‘big data’: GBM

Muscat: Business efficiency in Oman will be propelled by big data and act as the backbone of future initiatives by the company in 2017, according to a top official of Gulf Business Machines (GBM).
The pioneering system integrators in the Gulf have already commenced large scale projects for clients in the Sultanate to boost efficiency by collecting large fragments of data and formulate trends that will aid businesses in better decision making.
“Our main focus this year will be on big data, analytics and block chain to drive business productivity in Oman,” Iyad Chammat, country manager of GBM said in an interview with the Times of Oman.
“We are educating clients from different sectors, including oil and gas, banking and service providers, on the scope of big data and how it can become an asset to the company itself,” he said.
Big Data analytics is a term used to describe large and varied data sets, from broadly any source, that can be analysed to capture consumer preferences and track client behaviour during a given situation. Such a technology helps stakeholders uncover unknown patterns and correlations to make informed decisions and sustain foreseeable market volatility.
“Data of banks, government and service providers can be structured in such a way that it helps companies predict trends and make decisions accordingly, increasing productivity and reducing costs. Our big data abilities are coming with the help of our partner IBM,” he explained.
Big data analytics can be applied to any sector from healthcare, where an imminent life threatening illness can be predicted beforehand using data acquired by a large group of people that have been previously afflicted by it to save lives, to oil and gas industry where data from previously drilled wells can help predict production volume of a new well and whether it can be extracted profitably.
“All data is critical, whether it is customer billing information or social media data. It depends on what the client wants. This year, we will focus on offering such services and playing our part in digitalising Oman and helping companies save resources. This is where the future lies,” Chammat said.
Smart cities
“I think saving resources is very important and that is the major goal of smart cities. We are also focusing on delivering such products that cater to smart cities. We have seen Madinat Al Irfan and new digitalisation initiatives coming up in Oman through ITA; it is a very positive sign for Oman,” he added.
Chammat that added GBM is prepared to be a catalyst in driving digitalisation of the country through its vast experience in the Gulf and the world with its partners IBM and Cisco and that they are already preparing their staff to prepare for the future.
“Any city, London, Dubai or Barcelona, you have to know how to attract investors. The investors would look at the city when they see high productivity, less cost and maximum efficiency. This is what we can make cities in Oman. We have the infrastructure in place and we are prepared to go forward with the digitalisation processes,” he said.