Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Big Data and Cloud Computing Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of how Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) leverages Big Data and Cloud Computing technologies. It explores the benefits such as improved data processing, data management, business intelligence, and enhanced decision-making. The report also highlights the challenges, including security risks, employee training, and operational errors. The case study delves into CBA's use of Big Data in business intelligence and analytics, decision-making, and knowledge management, including applications like Daily IQ. Furthermore, the report discusses opportunities for CBA in cloud-based banking services, customer preference analysis, and market expansion, alongside challenges related to technology adoption, employee training, and data security. The report concludes with an overview of CBA's data collection and storage processes, encompassing data source identification, information classification, and the use of advanced data technologies like Hadoop and NoSQL. The report underscores the importance of these technologies for CBA's continued success in the competitive banking industry.

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Executive Summary
Big Data and Cloud Computing are the two technologies that are largely used in the business
organizations. Banking industry is one of the industries that have a lot of applicability of these
technologies in numerous banks and financial organizations. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(CBA) is one of the Australian banks that are making use of Big Data and Cloud Computing in
its business activities and operations. The report covers the challenges and benefits of these
technologies in CBA along with the application of the technologies in areas such as data
analytics, decision making, knowledge management and various opportunities.
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Organization Overview............................................................................................................................4
Benefits of Cloud Computing and Big Data................................................................................................4
Challenges of Cloud Computing and Big Data............................................................................................5
CBA: Use of Big Data in Business Intelligence & Analytics......................................................................5
CBA: Use of Big Data in Decision-Making & Knowledge Management....................................................6
CBA: Opportunities & Challenges using Cloud Computing and Big Data..................................................7
CBA: Data Collection & Storage.................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References.................................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
Technology is an important part of the modern day businesses and applications. It is necessary
for the organizations to maintain pace with the latest technology to ensure that the excellent
quality services are provided to the customers. Cloud computing and Big Data are two
technologies that are being immensely used in the organizations. Cloud Computing is a type of
computing in which an inter-connected network of remote servers, which is usually the Internet
is used for information collection, storage, management, and execution of operations. Big data is
a discipline in which huge sets of data are analyzed using automated tools and techniques in
order to reveal the patterns and trends associated with the data. The report includes the case
study of Commonwealth Bank of Australia to understand the application of both of these
technologies in the organization.
Organization Overview
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is a multi-national bank with its headquarters in
Australia. The bank also operates in various other countries such as New Zealand, Fiji, United
Kingdom and many others as well. The organization has made use of cloud computing and Big
Data technologies for organization management and risk assessment (Commbank, 2017).
Benefits of Cloud Computing and Big Data
Big Data and Cloud Computing offer a lot many advantages and benefits for the business
organizations in the areas of data processing and data management. There is a lot of data the
present day business organizations deal with. This data is now placed on the cloud that allows
easy data sharing among all the relevant parties. It also helps in avoiding the data related issues
such as data duplication and replication. There are various data copies that can be saved on the
cloud and the backing up of the data is also done easily. It allows the business units to keep their
data safe and available at just one click. Big Data tools aid the organizations in the data analysis
to reveal data patterns and trends using automated codes and programs (Hussain and Roy, 2016).
Such operations offer the organizations with the benefits such as easy storage of data along with
non-stop availability of the data. Cloud-based solutions are also cost-effective in nature as
compared to the paper-based data storage and management. Big Data provides the benefits in
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terms of quick decision making and the ability to form strategies as per customer choices and
preferences.
Challenges of Cloud Computing and Big Data
There are several challenges that are associated with both of these technologies. The primary
challenges that are associated with these technologies are in the form of security threats and
risks. There may be issues such as information stealing, information loss and leakage that may
occur. These risks are executed by the attackers by breaking in to the security of the data and
information by violating access control and authentication protocols. There are also mechanisms
that have been developed to hamper the availability and integrity of the information. Such
security occurrences lead of customer grievances and the loss of customer trust and satisfaction
(Jhaveri, Gala and Deulkar, 2015).
Big Data is still in its expansion phase and there is a lot of research work that is going on in this
area. The employees that are associated with the organizations are still not familiar with the
usage of the Big Data tools. Therefore, there is cost of training that is required to spend on the
employees. There are also various operational errors that result due to the same reason.
CBA: Use of Big Data in Business Intelligence & Analytics
Big Data is being increasingly used by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in the field of
business intelligence and data analysis. There is a lot of financial data along with customer data,
employee information, and client details that CBA is required to manage and organize.
Banking industry has seen a lot of transformation in terms of the practices and the nature of
operations that are performed. There is a lot of competition in the market in the present time
leading to the presence of a lot many small and large scale banks. It is, therefore, required to set
up the banks with the offerings to the customers that are as per their choices and preferences
(Diesner, 2015). CBA has taken a step forward to manage the huge volumes of data using the
Big Data tools and techniques. Apart from the storage and management, these tools are also used
along with the Business Intelligence techniques for enhanced data analytics. Customer patterns
in terms of the banking operations that the customers perform on the basis of customer age,
gender and other factors are determined. Also, the banking practices that are used are also
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analyzed. Such operations lead to the development of customer-oriented strategies and decisions
(Eyers, 2014).
Customer relationship plays a very significant role in case of CBA. The use of Big Data and
Business Intelligence has allowed the bank to maintain a healthy relationship with the customers
by fulfilling their demands and offering them the services as per their preferences. Facilities such
as internet based banking have allowed the customer to execute the financial transactions and
many of the banking operations remotely (Srivastava and Gopalkrishnan, 2015).
CBA has already launched an application called Daily IQ that makes use of data analytics to
bring out the details associated with cash-flow reporting and provides business insights to the
businesses that are associated with the bank.
CBA: Use of Big Data in Decision-Making & Knowledge Management
There are various security risks and threats that are associated with the web-based applications
and solutions. It is required to identify and analyze these risks for efficient risk management.
CBA has made use of Big Data and data analytics in the process of risk assessment to understand
the several financial risks that CBA is exposed to. The determination of these risks helps in the
formation of strategies for risk resolution and avoidance. There are decisions that are taken for
the detection and control of these risks in the organization.
The current cash flow performance of CBA is also analyzed by CBA to gain knowledge in the
same area and develop the decisions for the improvement of the same. The technology is also
being used by CBA for the creation of a new platform in order to enhance the merchant-customer
interaction. The step will lead to the enhanced level of satisfaction for the point-of-sale
customers (Suakanto, 2012).
There is also a lot of unstructured data that is also collected by the organizations which is usually
assumed to be unusable. However, CBA made sure that there is maximum relevance and
knowledge that is earned from its data sets. The bank applied the Big Data tools on the same to
come up with the relevant trends and patterns from the structured as well as un-structured data
(Li, 2016).
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CBA: Opportunities & Challenges using Cloud Computing and Big Data
There are many challenges that are associated with CBA with the usage and inclusion of cloud
computing and Big Data. One of the major challenges is in the prioritization of the related
activities that shall be performed. The decision such as the selection of the operations and
databases that shall be moved to the cloud is not an easy one to make. It is always recommended
to have a gradual progress rather than following the Big-bang approach in the implementation.
CBA, therefore, had to face challenges in the process of selection of the approach and the
methods that shall be applied.
There are also many changes that come up with the transformation of the technology that is
applied in the organizations. The case with CBA was the same. With the adoption of cloud
computing and Big Data, the employees had to go through several changes in terms of the
business activities and operations. There was a lot of time and cost that had to be spent on the
understanding and training of the latest tools and technologies.
The challenges in association with Big Data and Cloud Computing are also in the form of
security risks and attacks. These risks are mainly in the form of network based security attacks
along with the information security threats. Information confidentiality, integrity and availability
are put at risk due to these challenges (Shahzad and Hussain, 2013). The financial information
that is associated with CBA is extremely sensitive and critical in nature. In this information gets
exposed to unauthorized entities and customers, then there may be several damaging impacts
such as loss of customer trust and many of the legal obligations as well (Shahid and Sharif,
2015).
There are many opportunities that have also been created with the use of cloud computing and
Big Data in the bank. There are several cloud-based banking services that CBA can offer to the
customers. With the launch of these services, the customer trust and engagement has seen a
marked improvement. CBA can make use of the same to bring further enhancement in terms of
the cloud based services that are provided to its personal and business users. The use of Big
Data, Business Intelligence and Data Analytics can also aid in the study of the analysis of
specific customer choices. It will lead to the improvement of the market shares of CBA and will
also lead to further expansion of its customer base (Zanoon, 2015).
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The customer choices and preferences are changing with every passing day. With the use and
application of technology in the banking industry, these choices are expected to change further in
the near future. Big Data and cloud computing tools may be use to understand the future results
and practices that may be applicable in the future to maintain and expand the customer base,
revenues and market share.
CBA: Data Collection & Storage
The data collected for CBA for the use and application of Big Data tools and technologies
comprises of three major steps. The first step includes the identification of the possible data
sources and their selection. There are numerous data sources that CBA may use for data
gathering such as historical data, market information, client information etc (Xiong and Perros,
2014). The sources that are viable and efficient to provide the relevant information to CBA are
then selected for information gathering. The second step includes the classification of the
information as per the data servers and frameworks. Physical foundation is set up in this stage for
the gathering of information. There is also cloud based information stockpiling that is done for
efficient gathering of the information. In the last stage, huge information advances are used such
as Hadoop Distributed File Systems (HDFS) and NoSQL for the efficient gathering and storage
of the information (Wamba et al., 2017).
Conclusion
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the major banks that earn a lot of revenue and profits
in the present times. However, in order to maintain the pace with the current market and
customer requirements, it is required for CBA to develop new strategies and make use of the
latest technologies. Cloud computing and Big Data are the two technologies that are being used
by CBA to make easy decisions for earning customer trust and engagement. There is a lot of
application of these tools and technologies in the process of Business Intelligence and Data
Analytics to understand the customer choices and preferences. The information that comes out as
a result of the application of data analytics tools is used for the re-design and improvement of the
business strategies. Such practices result in the improvement of the processes that are carried out
in CBA.
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There are, however, certain issues that are associated with Big Data and cloud computing in the
form of security risks and attacks. There are also many of the technical and operational issues
that are associated with these technologies. It is necessary for CBA to develop the solutions and
countermeasures to overcome such issues with the use of careful planning and analysis. Also, it
is necessary to update these processes and technologies to make sure that the version specific
security risks and attacks are avoided.
The use of the technologies shall be done in such a manner that there are benefits that are earned
out of the same.
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References
Commbank (2017). Personal banking including accounts, credit cards and home loans -
CommBank. [online] Commbank.com.au. Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/
[Accessed 14 Aug. 2017].
Diesner, J. (2015). Small decisions with big impact on data analytics. Big Data & Society, 2(2),
p.205395171561718.
Eyers, J. (2014). Big data analysis a top priority for CBA chief executive Ian Narev. [online] The
Sydney Morning Herald. Available at:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/big-data-analysis-a-top-priority-for-cba-
chief-executive-ian-narev-20140814-103zym.html [Accessed 14 Aug. 2017].
Hussain, A. and Roy, A. (2016). The emerging era of Big Data Analytics. Big Data Analytics,
1(1).
Jhaveri, M., Gala, R. and Deulkar, K. (2015). Big Data – Feasible Solutions for Data Privacy
Challenges. International Journal of Computer Applications, 127(18), pp.1-4.
Li, K. (2016). A Fund-Constrained Investment Scheme for Profit Maximization in Cloud
Computing. IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, pp.1-1.
Shahid, M. and Sharif, M. (2015). Cloud Computing Security Models, Architectures, Issues and
Challenges: A Survey. The Smart Computing Review, pp.602-616.
Shahzad, A. and Hussain, M. (2013). Security Issues and Challenges of Mobile Cloud
Computing. International Journal of Grid and Distributed Computing, 6(6), pp.37-50.
Srivastava, U. and Gopalkrishnan, S. (2015). Impact of Big Data Analytics on Banking Sector:
Learning for Indian Banks. Procedia Computer Science, 50, pp.643-652.
Suakanto, S. (2012). Performance Measurement of Cloud Computing Services. International
Journal on Cloud Computing: Services and Architecture, 2(2), pp.9-20.
Wamba, S., Gunasekaran, A., Akter, S., Ren, S., Dubey, R. and Childe, S. (2017). Big data
analytics and firm performance: Effects of dynamic capabilities. Journal of Business Research,
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70, pp.356-365.
Xiong, K. and Perros, H. (2014). Resilient and performance-guaranteed composite services in
cloud computing. International Journal of Cloud Computing, 3(4), p.315.
Zanoon, N. (2015). Toward Cloud Computing: Security and Performance. International Journal
on Cloud Computing: Services and Architecture, 5(5/6), pp.17-26.
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