Cloud9 Advisory and Pepperdine Graziadio Collaborate on MSBA Capstone Course
We’re thrilled to share with you a three-part series highlighting Cloud9 Advisory’s collaboration with students and faculty at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School Master of Science in Business Analytics Program (MSBA). The story begins with a showcasing of this industry/academia collaboration, then continues with a look-back on the student experience and employer relationship that developed and culminates with the introduction of transformational future technologies for democratizing big data analytics.
Coast-to-Coast Collaboration
Boston, MA
At Cloud9 Advisory, headquartered in Boston, MA, we pride ourselves on revolutionizing traditional accounting practices through the integration of cutting-edge technology. Our firm stands at the intersection of finance and technology, driven by our mission to redefine accounting approaches with innovative solutions, solidifying our status as a CPA firm with a crush on technology.
Malibu, CA
Meanwhile, set against the scenic backdrop of Malibu, California, Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School’s MSBA program, led by Alfonso Berumen, Practitioner of Decision Sciences, provides a dynamic environment for master’s students poised to pursue diverse roles in finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and technology post-graduation.
The Origins of the Cloud9 and Pepperdine Collaboration: A Personal Bond
Alfonso Berumen, a passionate Professor at Pepperdine, and Chad Cavanaugh, the tech-driven CEO of Cloud9, are the visionaries behind this collaboration. Their shared love for learning and innovation sparked a mission: making big data accessible for everyone.
As their friendship grew they remained focused on simplifying big data analytics, resulting in a Pepperdine business journal review on business KPIs. It evolved into the Cloud9 and Pepperdine Capstone Collaboration, where Cloud9 provided data and goals, and Prof. Berumen offered technical support. Eager to engage Pepperdine’s 100% satisfaction-rated students, Cloud9 seized the opportunity to empower them with real-world datasets.
Coast-to-Coast Collaboration
Boston, MA
At Cloud9 Advisory, headquartered in Boston, MA, we pride ourselves on revolutionizing traditional accounting practices through the integration of cutting-edge technology. Our firm stands at the intersection of finance and technology, driven by our mission to redefine accounting approaches with innovative solutions, solidifying our status as a CPA firm with a crush on technology.
Malibu, CA
Meanwhile, set against the scenic backdrop of Malibu, California, Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School’s MSBA program, led by Alfonso Berumen, Practitioner of Decision Sciences, provides a dynamic environment for master’s students poised to pursue diverse roles in finance, healthcare, e-commerce, and technology post-graduation.
The Origins of the Cloud9 and Pepperdine Collaboration: A Personal Bond
Alfonso Berumen, a passionate Professor at Pepperdine, and Chad Cavanaugh, the tech-driven CEO of Cloud9, are the visionaries behind this collaboration. Their shared love for learning and innovation sparked a mission: making big data accessible for everyone.
As their friendship grew they remained focused on simplifying big data analytics, resulting in a Pepperdine business journal review on business KPIs. It evolved into the Cloud9 and Pepperdine Capstone Collaboration, where Cloud9 provided data and goals, and Prof. Berumen offered technical support. Eager to engage Pepperdine’s 100% satisfaction-rated students, Cloud9 seized the opportunity to empower them with real-world datasets.
About the Dataset
When the C9 and MSBA relationship began in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic was escalating quickly and a period of uncertainty impacted people and businesses across the world. Over the months and years that followed, the US Government responded to provide economic relief to businesses and families through various pandemic programs.
C9 provided services to businesses and families through this time and to help us deliver services and advisory backed by hard data, we monitored relevant, publicly available data from various federal agencies including from the Small Business Administration (SBA), North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) , Statistics of Income (SOI) Integrated Business Dataset (IBD) and Business and Individual tax filing statistics from the IRS.
As the size and scale of our dataset grew, and as the speed in which the data was being made publicly available, it was apparent that the data included anomalies and that data quality checks were needed to achieve the necessary data confidence needed to ensure insights we derive are accurate and reliable. Over the years we scrubbed, stitched, and cross-referenced reliable datasets to enrich and increase the quality of our dataset.
Genesis of Innovation: Inception and Unveiling the Cloud9 and Pepperdine Capstone Collaboration
Beginning in 2019, Cloud9 and Pepperdine forged a transformative partnership, aimed at guiding over 90 students across three cohorts through an extensive dataset containing more than 11 million rows. This collaboration, enhanced by resources generously donated by Cloud9, was pivotal in providing Pepperdine students with invaluable hands-on experience in data analysis.
The initiative kicked off with the first cohort tackling the complex PPP loan data, which involved creating a heat map to visualize PPP loan data, underscoring the urgent need for advanced technological support. Initially, the lack of cloud-based tools compelled students to work with scaled-down data sets or smaller datasets entirely on local machines. This setup posed significant collaboration and data handling challenges, encapsulating the dilemma of being ‘drowned in data but starved for information’. However, through Cloud9’s intervention, students who previously struggled to handle data sets larger than 7GB could now efficiently process over 1 billion data cells.
“Universities, particularly business schools, must recognize that everything is moving to the cloud. We shouldn’t be teaching data analytics students on local devices when everything is moving to cloud computing. Students need to be exposed to cloud technologies and platforms.”
– Dr. Alfonso Berumen, Practitioner of Decision Sciences, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.
Over 8-10 weeks of weekly meetings, the partnership flourished. Standout students, demonstrating exceptional performance in their capstone project, earned the privilege to work with Cloud9 as data analysts. This opportunity was a testament to their skill and dedication, highlighting the success of the program in fostering real-world expertise in data analysis.
As the cohorts progressed, the challenges presented to students became increasingly sophisticated. Split into teams, Cloud9 provided prompts that required students to deliver their best insights, fostering an environment where they could flex their analytical muscles and receive valuable feedback from a real-life employer.
Unlocking Data Insights: Tools and Techniques Behind the Analysis
As a Google Cloud Partner, Cloud9 utilizes several technical tools on the Google Cloud Platform. A key aspect of the capstone collaboration was the integration of cloud technology, primarily through Google’s BigQuery and Connected Sheets. Cloud9 provisioned student teams with their own connected sheet to begin the data analysis. Students were provided with a shared link to access the pandemic dataset, enabling them to collaborate in real time with Cloud9. This access to cloud-based tools prevented the massive dataset from slowing down their local devices. Additional tools that were imperative to our projects were Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for Cloud-Powered Exploration, Python and SQL for enhancing precision through code, and Visualizations for shaping data narratives.
Given that Connected Sheets are accessible through individual URLs, Cloud9 was able to efficiently oversee and arrange student projects by employing Chrome’s bookmark bar folder feature.
As Connected Sheets operates within Google Workspace, it enabled seamless collaboration for Cloud9 with the student groups. One approach involved utilizing comments for delivering feedback and posing detailed queries to the students. In contrast to conventional tools, this technology granted us the capability to access highly specific data points, facilitating the placement of feedback and review notes precisely where they were needed.
Impact on Graziadio Students and Cloud9 Advisory
Navigating through technology frustrations, working with the full dataset using PC resources, managing data refresh, sharing insights, and collaborating on presentations, the teams showcased their adaptability and resilience. The scarcity of certain skills needed for optimal dataset utilization and the abundance of point solutions added complexity, further emphasizing the teams’ skillful navigation through the project.
Alongside these challenges, the guidance of Cloud9 experts played a crucial role. Cloud9 not only provided valuable insights into overcoming technological hurdles but also served as mentors, enriching the student’s learning experience. This collaborative effort, combining diverse student skills with industry expertise, contributed to the successful navigation of the project, ultimately leading to valuable insights.
The Cloud9 and Pepperdine Capstone Collaboration had a profound impact on students’ skills and Cloud9’s strategic initiatives.
- ➤ Enhancement of professional communication, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
- ➤ Students gained tangible skills aligning with real-world business objectives.
- ➤ Experiential learning demonstrated the connection between technical skills and business insights.
Pictured above, from top left to bottom right: Julia Oliveri Orioles, Zixuan (Robin) Li, Xinrui (Primrose) Dong, Dr. Alfonso Berumen, Zijie (Scott) Liu, Jessica Solnik, Chad Cavanaugh, CPA. Not pictured: Zhiyue (Coco) Jiang
Post-project survey results indicated a high satisfaction rate among students, emphasizing the real-world application of data analytics and exposure to working with professionals. MSBA students praised the Graziadio x C9 Collaboration, with 75% rating the project an 8 out of 10 or higher on engagement level; students even described the project as “challenging but in a good way”. The major consensus from student feedback was excitement to work with real-world data, along with the thrill of using new resources.
Looking Ahead: The Capstone Relationship Continues
The second part of our series spotlights a remarkable success story – Robin Li. A standout student, Robin seamlessly transitioned into a part-time role as a data analyst with C9 after graduating from Pepperdine. Robin’s journey is a prime example of the real-world career opportunities facilitated by our collaboration.
Looking ahead, the success of the Cloud9 and Pepperdine Capstone Collaboration paves the way for potential collaborations with other universities. Our innovative approach holds the promise of extending our transformative learning models to benefit students in diverse academic environments. By offering students access to cloud-based artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, We believe that students will grow tremendously in their cloud computing abilities and will therefore be better equipped to handle real-world challenges when entering the workforce.
Furthermore, this initiative is not limited to academic circles; businesses too stand to gain. Cloud9 plans to offer these advanced analytics tools to businesses, addressing common frustrations and boosting their data analysis capabilities. This dual focus on academic and business applications demonstrates our commitment to fostering growth and innovation in both sectors.
