Join us as we take a look at the roadblocks and possible solutions for big data collection.
The term “big data” is common in most modern enterprises. Those organization that want to make well-informed decisions are increasingly turning to data to support their choices. A recent study, however, indicates that most companies are still misinformed about what big data is and how to use it.
Without a correct understanding of big data, companies are left unaware of how to overcome the challenges it can bring.
Big Data Challenges
According to a survey by Attivio, less than fifty percent of participants could define big data correctly. A shocking twenty-one percent had no idea what the term means.
So let’s address that first…
What is big data? Big data records various streams/sets of information such as customer data, competitive data, online data, offline data and more in order to gain a better overall look at a company’s work and efficiency.
One data-driven approach utilizes existing technology to track, store, organize and manage your big data. Once this data is recorded, business owners can turn it into reports that provide actionable insights to improve all sections of the company.
Many companies have misguided perceptions regarding the challenges presented by big data. These misconceptions withhold most companies from being able to choose the best data analytics solutions available.
Reported challenges of big data management include:
- Devoting sufficient manpower to collect/analyze data
- Having too much information (can become a hindrance)
- Having too many sources of data to keep track of
- Spending too much time collecting data and exceeding the business value as the web data keeps on changing (makes tracking trends an impossible mission)
The vast quantity of data that businesses are required to wade through can be staggering. The Attivio study revealed that data growth averages fifty percent every year. Thus growth resides mainly in the systems and pools, hence making it difficult to access and be used effectively.
For organizations without a proper knowledge of data handling, the task only gets harder because they must cope with huge amount of unstructured data. Therefore, the challenge becomes establishing ways in which they can penetrate the huge volume of data. Calling in the professionals will help solve this misery.
Overcoming Big Data Obstacles
There are various solutions that a company can employ when trying to overcome these challenges. For starters, it’s important to establish a partnership with a knowledgeable and experienced BI consulting firm. They can help develop a customized system for your business, effectively helping you solve the challenges mentioned above.
Prioritize the design of a scheme with intelligent analytics and make sure it gets implemented inside your properties and digital campaigns. This helps you collect data effectively from all relevant sources.
Collecting all the data in one place—at the same time—requires the need for a customized database. Once the data gets consolidated to a simpler structure, the aggregated data from the many sources can be divided, thus ensuring it is accessible to analysts. Doing this will allow you to determine the efficiency of each channel in place.
Customization of databases can be more efficient if your company aggregates only the data it requires and removes the unwanted noise. This will enable you to find out the customers’ behavioral trends.
Big Data Solutions
To succeed, the path companies must take will, in most cases, be bumpy. Management must make decisions that are solely based on the hard-analytic information.
Many of the problems organizations are facing are created by themselves. As technology has progressed, they have refused to view data strategically and are unable to adopt a culture of dealing with big data. The only way out is combining the correct technology and tools. This will lead to workflows and policies that are effective and address the challenges presented by big data.