The art of
analyzing network data
Service providers can learn a lot from their network activity. They can identify their most valued customers, whether peering relationships are fair and which prospective customers are already using their network. Unfortunately, traditional network reporting solutions don’t have the necessary scale or architecture to provide insights in a timely fashion. In today’s rapidly evolving business climate, knowing what your network did months ago is of limited value.
Other industries are already reaping significant benefits by applying Big Data technologies to customer-generated data. McKinsey Global Institute estimates that retailers can increase operating margins by 60% with Big Data dashboards that help customize inventory levels and spot new trends1.
What is your network doing now?
Service providers can benefit by applying Big Data technologies to network data. Moving to an analyze-first approach that provides near real-time streaming analytics will help operators make business and network operations decisions in hours instead of weeks. Imagine a scalable system continuously receiving streams of network data from multiple sources, creating clear pictures of traffic patterns and customer activity. This system could help operators identify new customers, segment existing customers and reduce network operations costs through more efficient planning.
Tata Consultancy estimates that network service providers could experience a 38% return on investment by applying Big Data technologies.
Faster analysis can boost revenue when prospecting for new customers. Examining flow data to discover which organizations are using your network, and where their traffic is going, can help identify your best prospects—companies already relying on your network. Arming the sales team with this information gives them a tighter focus with a higher probability of success.
Segmenting existing customers also provides business benefits and increased margins. With deep and current visibility into traffic volumes, distance and geographic distribution, it becomes possible to segment pricing plans beyond simple tiers. As a result, customers receive better service-level agreements and targeted special offers.
Knowing more about the network
Attracting new customers is pointless if the network cannot handle the additional traffic or support the desired service levels. Web dashboards with near real-time network visualizations help operations staff proactively address potential congestion points, over-utilization of links and other performance issues before they impact service quality. Over time, operators gain greater insight into traffic patterns and can more accurately plan network and capacity upgrades, creating a better match between revenue and capital expenditures.
Traffic on other networks also has an impact. Monitoring peer network ingress and egress sites establishes how long traffic stays on your network and its ultimate end points. Operations can verify that connections are being carried properly and ensure that peering is fair by identifying and eliminating abuses.
The ability to extract and analyze network data in real-time, instead of in weeks or months, brings deep insights to service provider networks. A complete solution that supports devices from multiple vendors helps you make your network more agile, more efficient and more responsive to actual customer usage.