Historically, the University of Alberta lacked a centrally managed repository for reporting data, resulting in inconsistency and disparity in access for units across campus. Meaningful and actionable reports were limited, and only focused on the interests and goals of the few units with data analysts who could synthesize the information. Over the last couple of years, the University of Alberta has undertaken major changes in how information is managed and utilized. At the forefront of this change has been an increased interest in supporting the development of analytics and supporting tools. Beginning with the implementation of a centrally managed data warehouse with self-service capabilities, and the introduction of cloud services with business process analysis tools, the University is just starting down the road of big data. This presentation explores opportunities and challenges for the University of Alberta in utilizing big data.