Chapter 30

: <Big Data>
Yoon Gihwan couldn’t stop smiling. Woosung asked curiously.

Are you that happy?


Of course. Hahaha! You made my day!

Yoon Gihwan explained as they walked together.

Kwon Taegyun was the reason why I got fired. I focused only on my work and not on office politics. When I realized my mistake, it was too late. He turned everyone against me. At that time a realization hit me that I could now understand how my son would have felt being bullied at school.

Yoon Gihwan laughed bitterly.

Hahaha… It was only then that I could really understand my son’s feelings. I was a bad father.

Yoon Gihwan paused briefly, then asked Woosung.

By the way, is it really true that Apple’s first rule of design is consistency?

There was no answer. Yoon Gihwan turned around to find that Woosung was not behind him.

…where did he go?

Woosung was with Cha Yeoreum. After Woosung left, she followed him. She was curious.

You…What just happened? How could you act like that back there? This is a workplace, not school.


Haha. Are you worried about me?


Woosung! This isn’t funny.


Thank you for your concern, but there is no need. You saw what happened, right? I didn’t lose.


Well…that’s only because we happened to have understanding bosses. If it was anywhere else, it would have been bad for you.

Woosung nodded.

Alright. I will consider your advice.


Not consider. You need to take it…

Cha Yeoreum didn’t finish her sentence. She just shook her head and murmured.

Never mind. It’s no use.


Haha. I never expected to see you here.


Um…yeah. I didn’t expect to see you either.


Well, good luck to you. I hope everything works out for you. I remember you wanting to help your parents financially and pay back your student loan.

Cha Yeoreum blushed as Woosung brought up their past conversations.

Why are you bringing back old news now?

Woosung smiled.

Haha. It’s just nice to see you work hard at your dream company.

She knew Woosung meant what he said. At first, she thought he would never change, but she started to think that perhaps she was wrong then.
He was her first everything. First love, first kiss, first time. She realized she was starting to feel for him again.

By the way, when did you have the time to study?


I…

It was this day 10 years ago.
10 years ago, things happened differently. It was a bad day for Woosung.
However, he couldn’t tell her the truth.

I…I never stopped studying.


Well, not when you were in school, but I guess it’s still not too late now. Good luck.

He knew she meant it.
Why!?
Why didn’t he do better in his previous life? He was disappointed in himself, but he had to move on.

Well, shall we go now? We are both newbies, so we shouldn’t take long breaks.

Cha Yeoreum nodded and turned around. He could smell the light flowery scent from her long hair.
‘Maybe…’
Woosung shook his head and walked away.

Kwak Jungwook loved his job nowadays. After the newbie was hired for the HTS team, everything in the company had been working out smoothly. Daesan’s new employee was creative and productive. His new function was a hit with the VIPs. Not to mention, it also attracted a lot of new users.
If things continued like this, they would become number one in no time. He could understand his boss’s insistence on trying to scout Woosung into the headquarter.

Let’s see how many new customers we got today.

Kwak Jungwook loved to check the numbers every day.

Yesterday, the number of new accounts were 1,225. Today is…1,421!

Kwak Jungwook clicked the reasons why their new users subscribed to their company.
-Easy to use HTS 53%
-Speed 12%
-Recommendation by an acquaintance 8%
….
Before Woosung, the numbers remained between 500 to 800 tops. This improvement was even better since it was because of the team he was supervising.

Hahaha. I will get a big bonus this year!

Beep.
A message popped up on his screen.
New email.
When he clicked it, there was an email from Daeyang System’s PM Kwon Taegyun.

New Product Promotion Banner on HTS
Hello. This is Kwon Taegyun from Daeyang System.
I have received a negative opinion from Daesan System regarding the new banner project.
They claimed that placing a banner on the top right corner would make it difficult for customers to use.
I would like to call a meeting about this.

Kwak Jungwook frowned.

This is a project my boss is interested in too…I should go and talk to him in person.

He stood up and headed towards Woosung’s workplace.
Woosung, Yoon Gihwan, and Kwak Jungwook sat in a conference room.

Did you read the email from Daeyang?


Not yet.

Yoon Gihwan answered.

They claimed that you disagreed with their banner project. They are asking for a meeting. May I hear why you reject this idea?

He had to explain it all over again.
Woosung answered impatiently.

Because it will ruin HTS’s UX.

However, Kwak Jungwook wasn’t listening.

This is one of the most important functions of Nuri Finances’ new system. ‘Product recommendation by Nuri Finances based on big data analysis.’ Everyone, including the executives, has high expectations of it.

Woosung frowned at Kwak Jungwook.

The final decision is Nuri Finances’, but please remember what I am saying. This will cause you to lose new customers and receive a lot of complaints.

Kwak Jungwook looked troubled as Woosung said firmly.

But…wouldn’t we be able to sell more products? It will be based on big data.


No.


Hmm…Daeyang has worked very hard on this project so I don’t understand why you are against it…This is really important…I have to tell the president…

Woosung closed his eyes and sighed. The room became tense in the blink of an eye.
Big data.
Big data.
Big data.
He couldn’t stand how they worshiped the idea of big data. Woosung explained in an impatient and annoyed tone.

I asked them what they thought big data was.


…


They answered it was the amount of data and that they collected unstructured data. Large quantity. The amount of data Nuri Finances get is about a million per day. In a month, that would be 30 million. Is this a lot?

Woosung calmed down and continued.

If this is considered large, then why are we suddenly calling it big data? Because we’ve always gathered this amount. The amount of data hasn’t increased recently.

Kwak Jungwook couldn’t answer Woosung’s question. He was sweating.

As for the unstructured data collection, that’s ridiculous. Nuri Finances is currently using the Oracle database. There is no place where you can collect unstructured data.

Yoon Gihwan and Kwak Jungwook couldn’t say a word. They could only listen to Woosung.

We don’t have more data than before, and we are NOT collecting unstructured data. Then why are they suddenly calling it ‘Big data?'

Kwak Jungwook hesitated.

W…well it’s because…

Woosung continued without waiting.

The developers over there are trying to fool everyone by using a big, unfamiliar word. I don’t care what word they use, but lying about the quality of their work is just wrong. Do you really think collection and analysis of data are happening correctly as they claim? Because if they did, they wouldn’t have suggested placing a banner. Do you know why?

Kwak Jungwook shook his head.

If you want to know, then arrange a seminar for me to speak. Daeyang will have to fund it, and please tell them I am someone who has been invited by Microsoft. They will have to pay me.

Without waiting for an answer, Woosung left the room. Kwak Jungwook asked Yoon Gihwan quietly.

Do you know the answer?

Yoon Gihwan scratched his head and answered.

Um… no.

Yoon Gihwan followed Woosung.

Hey, newbie.


I need to get back to work right away if I want to leave on time.

Woosung answered coldly.

I…I know but you could have told me what you were going to say in there.


Think. 30 million data.

Woosung then returned to his seat. Yoon Gihwan also sat down and murmured.

30 million data… 30 million…

Park Junwoo turned around and asked.

Are you ok?


So the company deals with stock trading and…


G…General manager?

Yoon Gihwan wasn’t paying attention to Park Junwoo. He continued to mumble. After a few seconds, Yoon Gihwan snapped his fingers.

Oh! Most of the data would be stock trading data.

Majority of the data would be related to transactions of stocks, not product purchases. This meant the data they claim couldn’t be used to predict the type of products customers needed.

But…wouldn’t Daeyang already know this?

Yoon Gihwan now could understand what Woosung was trying to say, but he was still worried. Woosung didn’t seem concerned, however, as he focused on his work.