1. It has been said that Zynga is “an analytics company masquerading as a games company.” Discuss the implications of this statement.
2. What role does business intelligence play in Zynga’s business model?
3. Give examples of three kinds of decisions supported by business intelligence at Zynga.
4. How much of a competitive advantage does business intelligence provide for Zynga? Explain.
5. What problems can business intelligence solve for Zynga? What problems can’t it solve?

The world’s fastest growing gaming company doesn’t boast top-of-the-line graphics, heart-pounding action, or masterful storytelling. It doesn’t make games for the Playstation, Xbox, or Wii. The company in question is Zynga, and if you have a Facebook account, odds are you’re already well aware of its most popular games. Zynga’s explosive growth illustrates the potential of social gaming and the ability of social networks to provide critical data about a company’s customers. Founded in 2007 by Mark Pincus and a group of other entrepreneurs, Zynga is the leading developer of social network games, such as CityVille, Texas HoldEm Poker, and FarmVille. These games, along with Zynga’s Empires & Allies game, are the four most frequently used applications on Facebook. Zynga’s games have over 290 million monthly active users and 65 million daily players whose gaming keystrokes and clicks generate 3 terabytes of data every day. Since its inception, Zynga has put a priority on data analytics to guide the management of its games and the business decisions of the company.