Big Data Write-up
- The following write-up was written by Sam Loch for MIS 2502 – Data Analytics
Big Data Analytics
Imagine a data set that is so large and complex that the traditional software used for data-processing can’t even begin to make process this information, let alone analyze it. This set of data is called “Big Data.” Big Data is a term that was coined in the 1990’s in order to explain the massive amounts of new data that was being generated at that time like no one had ever seen before. With the emergence of all of this new data, companies wanted to find ways to use it to their advantage. Big Data Analytics relates to what we have learned in our Data Analytics class because it involves the same principal idea of taking transnational data or any other kind of pertinent data and using it to discover trends in a data set and using your knowledge of these trends to make money.
Companies such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google use Big Data Analytics to help them understand their users and target advertisements toward these specific users. For instance, if Amazon has a lot of data that shows that customers who buy guitar strings tend to also buy guitar picks or tuners, Amazon will use this data to try and market to anyone who has looked at or purchased guitar strings. Now, if someone adds a pack of guitar strings to their cart they will be prompted to add these other items as well. Also, once they have browsed or purchased an item, every time they log in to Amazon.com they will be shown products that relate to the items that they have shown interest in. By incorporating Big Data Analytics in this way, companies like Amazon and many others are capable of selling and advertising to their customers in a more effective manner and are able to make more money solely because they were able to analyze and make use of “Big Data.”
References
Manyika, J., Chui, M., Brown, B., Bughin, J., Dobbs, R., Roxburgh, C., & Byers, A. H. (2011, May). Big data: The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity. Retrieved April 19, 2017, from McKinsey Global Institute website: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/big-data-the-next-frontier-for-innovation
Miller, R. (2011, September 23). The lessons of Money Ball for big data analysis. Retrieved April 19, 2017, from http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/09/23/the-lessons-of-moneyball-for-big-data-analysis/
Rouse, M. (2017, March 1). Big data analytics. Retrieved April 19, 2017, from http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/big-data-analytics
What is big data analytics? (2017, January). Retrieved April 19, 2017, from https://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/infosphere/hadoop/what-is-big-data-analytics.html