The phrase ‘big data’ is a commonly used term used to describe data that is challenging to process, with traditional methods of handling this data being shown to be near impossible due to the volume of data.
‘Big data’ can be classified into six areas, also known as the 6 Vs.
Volume
The day-to-day running of a business can create high volumes of data – for example, social media streams and general business transactions.
Velocity
With technology and the internet growing at unprecedented rates, the speed at which data is being sent and received is increasing daily. This has also meant the reaction time for this data is more pressured than ever.
Variety
Data has changed in many ways since its formation and comes in many different forms. The variety in structure is the major area where problems can arise with a portion of it being semi-structured or completely unstructured.
Variability
The flow of data can be sporadic and unpredictable now with many organisations focusing on their social media presence and utilizing “trending” content.
Veracity
Data can come from many different sources which can affect the quality and this can make processing the data extremely difficult and in most cases leads to further problems.
Value
For most companies, this is the most important factor of ‘big data’ as it dictates what they can get out of it and how useful this data will be.
How useful is ‘Big data’
The usefulness of ‘big data’ depends on how well you’re able to process the data and how capable your systems are in being able to handle it.
Big data requires a lot of storage due to the sheer amount of it and many organisations opt to use cloud based storage/hosting solutions to support this.
It’s a good idea to have a framework in place (such as Apache Hadoop, for example) to handle all of your data and to format the information into a more digestible form.
With all these systems in place, the benefit to your company can be exponential.
The information that can be extracted from ‘big data’ has been shown to help to improve customer satisfaction, marketing campaigns and streamline overall business operations through obtaining intelligence about customer behaviour.
We have a committed team of specialists that would be happy to assess your ‘big data’ needs and find the best solution for you. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call now on 0161 464 6101 or go to our website and we’ll be more than happy to help.
