Here's Why You Should You Invest in Big Data
Big Data refers to the technologies and strategies that are used to gather and process very large volumes of data.
The scale of data that is worked on today has dramatically increased recently, compared to the amount of data that was processed just five years ago. Many organisations have started processing datasets that are far beyond the computing power of a single computer.
Indeed, for Big Data to be useful, a huge amount of data must be gathered, organised, and analysed through various channels. This is because some patterns (such as subtle consumer behaviour trends) can only be detected with large datasets, but will go unnoticed if the volume of data is too small.
Understanding these patterns can enable companies to make much better decisions, and hence compete more successfully on the global market.
Big Data can be either in structured or unstructured form. Structured data is easier to organise and analyse, while unstructured data is much more difficult to work with, and harder to analyse by traditional tools and models.
While Big Data is actually not a new concept, only recently have the tools and the technology become good enough to work with large volumes of data easily. Because of these technological advances, working with Big Data should now be considered an essential strategy for any company that wants to compete at scale globally.
If your company has a good strategy in place to exploit Big Data, it can enable you to make exponential leaps powered by more accurate business decisions. Big Data not only enables you to answer many of your current questions, it also allows you to ask new questions you didn’t even know were relevant.
The main characteristics
Big Data is characterised by three main factors:
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A high volume of data is processed
Big Data can potentially gather information from any source. These sources include emails, data from sensors, business transactions, social media activity, etc. Tracking all this information creates extremely large volumes of data.
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Many different types of data are included
Because Big Data is gathered from many sources, it can take many different forms. For example, it can be structured data, such as numeric data in a traditional database, or unstructured data, in the form of videos, audios, emails, etc. All these different data forms must be processed effectively.
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Data is processed rapidly
Big Data must be collected fast, and processed close to real time, in order to be helpful. The velocity of processing large datasets must be high enough so it can be made available for analysis immediately.
The advantages
The advantages of Big Data rely entirely on how you make use of the information it provides. Data can be used in many different ways to make better decisions, and the precise benefit that can be gleaned from it depends on your specific case.
In general terms, however, here are some of the main benefits provided by Big Data:
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It helps you understand consumer preferences
With Big Data, a company can understand market conditions much more accurately. Based on these insights, the products that customers prefer can be produced in more quantities to dominate the market.
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Reduces operational costs
he ability of Big Data to process large amounts of information can save a lot of money, by helping to improve business processes, by making them faster and more efficient.
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Company innovation
Big Data can be used for better product development, based on accurate insights into trends in consumer behaviour. Based on Big Data tools, a company can create products tailored towards meeting real customer needs.
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Reputation management
Big Data can help a company understand the opinions expressed by customers, or potential customers, about their company. This can be used to determine how to improve the brand image of the company.
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Time saving
Big Data tools can help any business to mine new sources of data, and to process them faster than by traditional methods. Real-time or near real-time results can be achieved, thereby helping you to make decisions faster.
Conclusion
Big Data is increasingly important for global business today. The information that it provides is used by small and large companies alike to understand important trends, make relevant innovations, and ultimately reap more profits.
With Big Data, organisations create new growth opportunities and a larger industry that is powered by huge datasets. Companies now constantly gather information about products, services, customers, distributors etc., and they analyse this information to make their products better.
Big Data also helps companies to make better market forecasts and predictions. These predictions can help them look ahead and make business decisions based on more accurate information.
Previously, datasets were relatively small, and companies could only act on limited data. Now with Big Data tools, companies can ask more questions and get more accurate answers to these questions than ever before.
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