Taking the Heavy Lifting out of Data Analytics

A key challenge agencies face in their quest to adopt analytics is managing the volume of data stored in various silos. Locked away in those disparate systems are datasets that could help explain trends or enable agencies to plan for future events — if only people could access them.

But even the data that agencies can account for may be outdated or inaccurate: so-called “dirty data.” For the data that is usable, agencies must decide how best to store, manage and analyze it.

Ben Snively, Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, recommends that agencies start their analytics journey with a set of business questions that they want to answer with data analytics.

“That may not be a complete set of questions, but a smaller set that can lead to quick wins and buy-in from multiple stakeholders,” Snively said. “Agencies should involve engineers, analysts and other business stakeholders who can benefit from agency system data.” From there, having a game plan and knowing what cost-effective solutions are available to support data analytics is key.

For example, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Food and Drug Administration are among the agencies using AWS to simplify workloads and ensure they are paying only for the resources they use. AWS offers tools and services that enable agencies to quickly migrate data into a secure environment and benefit from what we call the “undifferentiated heaving lifting” of technology infrastructure that AWS provides.

Check out the GovLoop guide to:

• Learn about common data analytics challenges.
• Learn data analytics best practices from your peers in government.
• Hear from experts at the General Services Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Commerce Department and more.