Big Opportunities in Big Data

There is no doubt that the modern world creates an enormous amount of data. The volume generated daily is measured in the range of quintillions. And the number is growing each day. We produce so much data that 90% of it has been created in the last two years. Some analysts predict that by 2022 the amount of data available will be 50 times more than today. Big data is the reality that companies face. It comes from everywhere – websites, call centers, POS terminals, internal intelligence warehouses, even soda machines. This situation poses all kinds of questions. But if CIOs have to start somewhere it’s from the three basic ones:

1. How to capture and store it
2. How to organize it
3. How to analyze it

Big data poses many opportunities but also many challenges. How to capture and store it is a big part of the challenges. One of the things that CIOs need to evaluate is what data should be captured. There is no point of storing data just for the reason of storing. The data that is being capture should be providing opportunities that the company didn’t have before. It should be used by the business people and not just take space on servers and hard drives. This challenge is also an opportunity for outside vendors. If they can show the benefits of big data and help the companies decide what data would be useful for them they can start a very lucrative relationship.

When dealing with big data, many CIOs need to reevaluate the company’s IT infrastructure. This is big part of storing and managing the data. The infrastructure is essential for the speediness and reliability of the system. The obvious thing the IT managers need to consider is storage. They need to think about much more however. The company might need improvements in its network, terminals, software for recording and pulling the data, even personnel. It will also need partners to facilitate the improvements.

There are many positives to big data. It gives companies the opportunity for a much rigorous analysis. Using big data, compared to many smaller databases for example, allows for better tabulations and correlations. Companies gain a better understanding of their environment and a deeper insight to their business. Organizing and analyzing the data are not possible with traditional solutions though. CIOs need to implement new tools to take full advantage of these opportunities. As a part of it, they will need to worry about both selecting the new software and implementing it. This is a perfect chance for you to step in. Advise your account to start small. Implement solutions with small batches of data first and then scale the project.

Big data provides many opportunities. And it’s here to stay. It’s on the mind of many CIOs and so should be on yours. Check out our free CRUSH Reports in the CRUSH eStore.

Trish Ellis
Marketing Manager
SalesQuest