We know for insurance providers processing and analyzing large amounts of data is an important part of your business, but it can also be one of the most challenging aspects. Apache Spark is a powerful tool that can help.
Today, technology and businesses can meet our needs almost immediately, from eating a pizza 30 minutes after ordering it to transferring money within seconds in a banking app. Speed is great for business, but information can get lost in translation.
However, if you run an insurance company, more is at stake than a wrong order or delayed payment. Inaccurate or hard-to-find claims lengthen the claims process and open you to the risk of fraud, unexpected claims and poor pricing models. The good news? You now have a tool that can add some “Spark” to your business by increasing effectiveness and response time while helping you stay organized and efficient.
What Is Apache Spark?
Apache Spark is an open-sourced computer framework that can help process huge amounts of data, allowing you to organize information into batches or in real time. The program is compatible with different coding languages, such as R or Python, to help with analyzing large data sets while providing tools to help with graph processing and machine learning. That makes it compatible with the software that works best for you, making it easier for you to streamline your business and detect fraud.
What Makes Apache Spark Stand Out
Apache Spark’s power is its in-memory cache, which delivers lightning-fast execution of data optimization, combined with an application program interface (API) that makes it easier for developers to obtain simple, high-level results without needing a lot of code.
But beneath the user-friendly API are several components that work together to maintain the immediacy of data analysis, make your business stand out, help it grow organically, and — most importantly — stay safe. Below are the three most important ones:
- Spark Core manages memory, aids with the recovery process when systems malfunction and helps organize the storage system so you can get the data you need when you need it. Much like your browser’s history, Spark Core allows you to recover older systems or logs and prioritize them in ways that work best for you and your business.
- Spark Resilient Distributed Datasets (Spark RDD) directs the location of the data while also recovering lost information from storage. Imagine selecting the recycle or trash bin on your desktop and seeing all of your lost files. Spark RDD can recover what was lost while also placing the data back in its original location.
- Spark SQL organizes data into rows or columns that make it easier for data analysts and engineers to find later. This framework also provides a graphic computation engine that helps process the organized data to communicate to network devices. Just like your My Photos folder, you can create your own subfolders to organize your data into categories.
Why Insurance Companies Love Apache Spark
Everyone loves a well-organized closet for safeguarding their things, and your business should be no different. Spark provides the tools you need to keep your data safe where it should be when people need it, no matter how big your business grows. With its easy-to-use setup and interface, what’s not to love?
However, Spark also provides better fraud protection, can help you predict future claims, and even helps ensure your insurance products are priced accurately. Plus, it can use social media, Internet of Things (IoT) data and more to predict when potential claims might arise. By being prepared and able to identify future claims quickly, your company wins back time.
Because of Sparks technical requirements, we recommend partnering with a vendor to get started. A qualified vendor can help you develop a high-level data strategy and road map for your data warehouse architecture and systems integration, all with the singular focus of turning your data into valued information.
By integrating Apache Spark into your company, you get time back to invest in your business and can create a future plan of action. Just like you would want your pizza in 30 minutes or less with no mistakes, you want your business to have the same care. Spark can help your company stay organized, stay a step ahead of risk and provide your company with more time to put your future plans into action.
Conclusion
Today, many solutions are available in the market to perform various operation on data. However, Apache Spark is the framework where you can leverage data in memory along with distribution of compute. The RDD capabilities Spark offers makes this faster but also fault tolerant. Because the tool is not limited to SQL-like operations, you can leverage it for your no-SQL data as well. This makes Spark unique to other solutions available in the market, and specifically beneficial to insurance companies with their vast amounts of frequently semi-structured or unstructured data.
Data governance is essential to creating trustworthy, sustainable and repeatable value through data. What does that mean for you?
