Advantages and Challenges of Big Data for fleets
Anticipating the advancement of Big Data is like patting a bottle of tomato Ketchup; you know it’s coming but you’ve no idea when or how big the glob will be.
Big data is the talk of the fleet industry right now and this scenario was used by Lex Autolease’s corporate director, Craig McNaughton, at a recent ACFO event in the UK. We decided to seek expert opinion on the advantages and challenges of Big Data for fleets.
More than a fad
The car is evolving from status symbol to mobile device. What this means in terms of big data for contract hire and leasing companies is transformational change on an epic scale.
“We must change from a rear-view mirror perspective to using data to predict the future and move from a leasing company that provides management information to a data company that leases vehicles.” McNaughton stated.
But what does “Big Data” mean?
The title seems daunting but essentially big data is about how businesses utilize to their advantage the huge amount of information coming to them. The challenge is knowing what you want from the data rather than the amount of it being collected.
The technology for data collection, storage and analysis has moved on with the evolution of the Cloud, server farms and remote data storage companies. The benefits are two-fold: data is no longer stored in separate silos, which makes comparative (and other) analysis easier and quicker. And gone are the days of shipping it out to Analysts to wait weeks for anything worthwhile.
It also means the advantages of big data can be enjoyed by small companies as well as large.
What are the challenges of Big Data?
Big data does, however, come with its own challenges. Not least is the issue of liability in terms of data breaches, particularly as company car drivers may not be covered by leasing companies’ hire agreements currently.
The connected car will enable drivers to download functionality and physically change their vehicle’s specification, just like they do now with mobile phones. This has a huge impact on fleet operations, tax and legislation revisions. Then there’s the issue of delivery of on-demand services, which could be both an opportunity and a threat.
Nick Mitchell, Audi’s service and technical manager, explains: “It could be that cars are sold with the lowest specification, which is then updated by drivers soon after. That would have a massive impact on tax liabilities. Legislation and the tax system as we know it will have to change.”
New data protection laws – be ready!
New EU data protection regulations come into force on May 25, 2018 and businesses need to be ready. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations), will have a significant impact for fleet and connected cars.
The new rules build on existing legislation with a focus on digitalisation and technology. The “principles” of transparency, accountability and the ability to “prove consent” are among them.
Alex Ktorides, head of ethics and risk and a partner at law firm Gordon Dadds, counsels this: “‘Big data’ is all about having an ethical approach and that means transparency. Connected cars will generate huge amounts of data and the question is what happens to it? It’s crucial to ensure it’s being ethically handled.”
The pace of change will never be as slow as it is now so fleet and leasing companies must move fast to change. In terms of Big Data, don’t wait for the glob of sauce; by the time it comes you may be drowning in its impact.
