Big Data Adoption, it’s really happening.. Is it time
to get on board?
Technology has evolved
over the last 60 years and today we continue our lightning fast journey through
time with technology by our side. The term “big data” has been used by many to
describe data analytics which are often compiled from spreadsheets. They say
‘(Microsoft) Excel is an accountant’s best friend’ yet it comes with a lot of
limitations that cannot be overlooked in today's world. The evolving nature of current
data driven decision-making at senior levels in organisations places a huge
burden on departments responsible for analytics and management reports.
We as a race have
produced more information in the last 2 years then we have in the last ten
thousand years making data analytics in today's operating environment a real
challenge. The evolution of big data has seen technological breakthroughs
in streaming, batched pipelines, distributed clusters and data centre
management. If we are to capitalise on opportunities presented by big data, we
need real time or near real-time streaming along with batched data ability that
is indexed and easy to transform so we can analyse it producing insights in
support of the management decision making process.
Here are some high level
points that one should think about when considering big data as a professional
and/or an enthusiast:
- Open source with it’s democratisation is truly the king of big data. Harness the power of the open source community and collaborate in the evolution of big data that will service your needs
- Big Data Architecture is the looking glass into the future. Think distributed computing in two ways, what works and what works for you. Scalability comes at a price... make sure your solution comes with the appropriate flexibility in partitioning and try to keep one data layer only in your big data stack.
- Data Management should determine your security protocols ranking your data in layers of sensitivity. Ensure parity between your policies and your big data architecture. Allow this to drive things like storage solutions (in-house, cloud, hybrid), design, deployment, etc.
Data analytics and
visualisation should become more “visually orientated” with a data on demand
mindset. Create a higher level of abstraction based on visual filtering for
your analytics suite.
Finally, when you have a
working data pipeline servicing your needs through a big data stack that
presents useful tools and analysis for use, make sure you use it. Package your
end result in an easy to understand format with visually driven reports from
one of your most valuable resources, which is the large volumes of data you
collect every day! Now is the time to transform your future with big data that
will not only create awareness and understanding, it will create value for your
company both now and into the future.
About
the author: John Mulhall is a Marketing Technologist and newly Minted Software
Developer. John is also a committed blogger and from February 2016 onwards,
will be publishing blogs every second week on topics around Technology,
Leadership and Sustainable Capitalism.
Sources/Credits:
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