Zero Latency, Item Affinity, and Business Intelligence

 

Zero latency leads to coordinated and informed business decisions by making rapidly changing information available across businesses. It is also considered to be the perfection of latency optimization and is the theoretical end point of super low latency engineering (Informatica, n.d.). Is there such a thing as absolute zero latency? No, for this to happen, network packets would have to exceed the speed of light, and even in perfect network conditions, this would not be possible. To reach near perfect zero latency however, it is more achievable in a tightly composed geographic network where the packets have less distance to travel. Zero latency is not actually achieving absolute zero but refers to near real time data optimization (Informatica, n.d.). It is more commonly referred to as the attempt to achieve zero latency in conjunction with running an optimized network environment. It implies to real time data accessibility across all business functions and the organization having the ability to make decisions based off of this real time data that is being continuously refreshed.

In business intelligence (BI), data latency refers to how long it takes for a user to receive source data from a BI dashboard or data warehouse. It is referred to as the time that it takes to store and retrieve data packets. According to Yasar & McLaughlin, data latency is important for the following reasons:

·        Efficient business decisions - Enables data driven businesses with quick decision making because employees can run ad hoc reports to answer specific questions.

·        Reliable connections – web sites with low latency levels provide stable web connections to quickly respond and load for users.

·        Up to date information – the most accurate and current data is provided and promotes a balance between supply and demand.

·        Front page optimization – The front page of websites is always able to be optimized and stay current.

·        Improved live stream video quality – Low latency is extremely important to provide better user experiences with webinar and live streaming.

·        Retargeting customers – Low latency enables businesses to retarget online customers that are distracted by ads, missing sales opportunities.

·        Real time customer analytics – Help to determine customer trends in real time, as low latency connections are crucial to retail analytics.

·        Real time manufacturing with the industrial internet of things (IOT) – Real time IOT sensors, smart devices, and applications are widely used in factories to access large amounts of data.

·        Improved metaverse and virtual reality experience - Low latency must be present to support faster end to end gaming, socializing, and collaborating across devices.

·        Detection of malicious behavior in real time – Real time data analytic tools aid in detecting fraudulent and malicious activity.

Item affinity studies customer’s behaviors and patterns to determine links in purchases so that stores can increase their potential to cross sell. Stores use BI to study large amounts of data and determine what items customers often purchase together (Whiting, n.d.). Amazon web services creates a user segment for each item based upon data interactions and item datasets, this can then be used to promote different items to different user segments based on the likelihood that the user will take an action like clicking on or purchasing an item (Amazon Web Services, 1998). This ability leads to suggestive selling by online companies to users. One example of this is when an online shopper adds something to their virtual cart, item affinity is then used to suggest similar items, or items often sold together. It is artificial intelligence at its best, being used in business. This is an extremely important function for online businesses, and it often leads to an increase in online sales.

 

References

Design Originals. (1998). Item-Affinity recipe. Amazon. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://docs.aws.amazon.com/personalize/latest/dg/item-affinity-recipe.html

What is zero low latency : Definition. Informatica. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://www.informatica.com/services-and-training/glossary-of-terms/zero-latency-definition.html

Whiting, B. (n.d.). Product Affinity Analysis: Methods & Examples. Study.com. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/product-affinity-analysis-methods-examples.html

Yasar, K., & McLaughlin, E. (2022, June 24). What is data latency? SearchCIO. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/data-latency