Data Analytics – Big Data
Big data refers to the exponential amount of growth and availability of data. Big data can be best defined by considering the three “V’s”. The first being volume, which refers to just the sheer amount of information that is now being logged whether it be transactional data from companies or information generated by the rise of social media. Due to sensors and other forms of tracking the velocity that data is pouring in has also increased which is the second “V”. The third “V” is variety which refers to all the different ways that data is created today. There are traditional numbers being generated which is structured but also unstructured data as well such as emails and video. The more useful analysis that can be done on data the more revenue a company can generate so the importance of big data is continuing to grow.
In this course we learned how data can be analyzed and stored. This is relevant to big data because that massive amount of data needs to be utilized. In reference to ETL (extract, transform, load) often since big data can be unstructured it must be reformatted to be made into useful tools. Also, the data then is placed into data cubes and data stores so that it be used by companies to make business decisions. Finally, the right data visualization must be used in order to get the most out of the analysis that can be derived from big data.
Today big data is still a somewhat new concept and in a recent study done by IBM it is found that 47% of organizations are still in the planning stages of big data use. Those that are starting to implement some form of big data analysis are starting by using internal sources of data first. The area that companies are focused on are using big data to analyze customer-centric objectives. Using the data gathered about the customers companies can gain a better understanding of how to address customer concerns and needs.
Sources:
“What Is Big Data?” What Is Big Data? SAS, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/big-data/what-is-big-data.html
“Analytics: The Real-world Use of Big Data.” IBM. IBM and Oxford University, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/thoughtleadership/ibv-big-data-at-work.html