Why Is BIG DATA
So Important?
B
ig Data is the term that explains the large volume of both stable and unstable data that inundates the business on a daily basis. In order to qualify as such, the data involved must exhibit categories known as the four V’s: By Ma hew Meehan VOLUME - The amount of created data is considered vast in rela on to tradi onal data VARIETY Y - Data comes from all different types of sources and is therefore also created by machines and processes as well as people VELOCITY - Data gets produced extremely fast, with this process connuing even as we sleep VERACITY Y - Big Data is sourced from many different places and therefore the quality and veracity of such data must be tested.
This concept has existed for many years and it is understood by most organisa ons that capturing all data leads to significant potential value for the company. Even before Big Data became a concept in the 1950s, businesses were using basic analytics like spreadsheets and calcula ons to monitor developing trends and insights before developing the ini al Big Data concept. While an increase in speed and efficiency was created by this concept, the me taken did not allow for anything more than future predic ons. In comparison to now, trends are now instantly idenfiable, allowing immediate strategic development that facilitates faster workstreams, staying agile to your environment and being constantly compe ve. However, the main factor in utilising such data is also reliant on understanding why Big Data is actually so 24 europeanbusinessmagazine.com
important for businesses in the first place, especially considering it is not actually the amount that ma ers, but instead what the organisations do with it. The importance of such can mainly be understood by the development of three core categories that have been decided over me to give the greatest overview of the inherent benefits of Big Data.
Cost Reduc on The reduc on of cost is achieved by the new technological developments of Big Data, such as cloud-based analy cs and the reduc on in necessary hardware, meaning that there are significant cost advantages when it comes to both the ability and expense involved in storing large quan es of data. The ability to now take information into a more digital storage mechanism has allowed for large improvements into data driven processes such as quality standardisaon and general tes ng. This is due to their needs for constant access to numerous complex sets of data that are especially important in industries where mistakes are cri cal, such as pharmacological inves ga on, technology and na onal defence. Big data is able to formulate in-depth insight that provides detailed feedback and the storage of iden fied issues that inform the process of assessing variables. This allows much quicker, clearer and well-informed decisions for all affected industries.
Improved Decision Making Due to the greatly advanced speeds of the data mining processes and the memorisa on of analy cal data, this allows new sources of informa on to
be speedily inves gated, so that all businesses immediately understand both the state of compe tors and the overall condi on of their industries. This equips them with the tools to make constantly evolving decisionsdue to the speed in which these companies can now learn and internalise this informa on. This also allows for much further future projection, as the accuracy and consistency allows businesses to create their own agile framework which is able to handle the involved risks, while constantly upda ng and re-evaluating responsible memory banks in order to effec vely influence every necessary decision.
