Big data is now part of our everyday lives. Every year the amount of data, its variety and its the velocity that organisations need to handle and deal with breaks new records. This huge growth in data has created many challenges in both understanding it and unlocking the potentially very valuable information that resides within it.
Usual ways of analysing data using relational database management systems such as SQL do not work with Big Ddata because the data is huge in volume , has different formats , might be unstructured and multidimensional and
may be located in different applications based on various technologies. Big Data Analytics does the job and its potential is huge.
Big Data Analytics involves discovering the most efficient ways of capturing and managing the increasing amount of data that is being generated, refining the raw data and analysing it to create information that creates value for the business.
Many of these huge databases in organisations are potential goldmines however they are being ignored through the lack of access to Big data analytics.
Application of Big Data Analytics
Big Data Analytics is used in many different fields. Examples of these are:
- Marketing and Sales – target the right customers using predictive modelling; discover patterns of customer behaviour to identify customer attitudes; improve customer services
- Finance – budgets and forecasts can be generated using predictive and content analytics
- Creation of alternative Business Models
- Risk management – cost of risk minimised by the application of predictive models.
- Innovation – Utilise the data generated by the Internet of Things to drive new ideas
- Optimise Supply Chains and time on site deliveries with real time Big Data Analytics.
Technologies and tools
Big Aata Analytics is a multidisciplinary field relying on a large range of different technologies. New applications and platforms which are more visual, easier to use and business friendly are being introduced.
For instance, Hadoop is an open source software library framework which enables the distributed processing of Big Data sets on computer clusters using basic programming models and can handle up to thousands of servers. The Hadoop toolset is growing rapidly.
Outsourcing Big Data Analytics
While businesses need the benefits that Big Data Analytics is able to offer, they certainly don’t need the hassle involved in its implementation.
Organisations are discovering that the solution is outsourcing the work overseas and in particular to India where resources possess the traditional skills in statistics and mathematics which are ideal building blocks in the development of Big Data Analytics expertise.