Big Data - A solution in search of a problem?
The focus of the technology community has been shifting recently from Cloud, to Mobility, to Social Media, and now to Big Data. We are good at creating something new and keeping the CIOs busy with replete choices for their next-gen organization, or as we like to call it in Infosys - Tomorrow's Enterprise. But recently the foray into Big Data from various segments has drawn mixed perceptions, ranging from "solving the unsolvable" to "a solution searching for the problem". I would like to put both view across and let you decide.
First let's summarize what this is. Simply put Big Data refers to large chunks of data which satisfies the following qualification criteria (or at least most of them):
Now when we refer to Big Data w.r.t. enterprise application then it is usually about taming this monster to produce valuable information like customer insight, pattern identification, statistical analysis, etc. Current BI & Data Warehousing tools are largely inadequate to do this for a variety of reasons, more or less the same as the qualification criteria for big data.
Now the generic solution description for a big-data application may consist of the following components at a high-level. In reality the configuration is not this simplistic, but it is intended to get the point through.
View image
- Unstructured Data
- High Volume
- High Complexity
- High Variety
- Low Value Density
- High Velocity
Now when we refer to Big Data w.r.t. enterprise application then it is usually about taming this monster to produce valuable information like customer insight, pattern identification, statistical analysis, etc. Current BI & Data Warehousing tools are largely inadequate to do this for a variety of reasons, more or less the same as the qualification criteria for big data.
Now the generic solution description for a big-data application may consist of the following components at a high-level. In reality the configuration is not this simplistic, but it is intended to get the point through.
View imageNow coming to the usage of big-data applications in real world there have been a few use-cases doing the rounds. Each industry has its own version. For e.g. for Communications Industry we have a use-case of a user driving by a mall and his telecom operator (which is location aware due to the inherent nature of its business) pushing out limited time offers for specific partner stores of user's interests. Here user interests are refined using Big Data application where the source of this information may lie in social media streams, demographic analysis, account data from enterprise, etc.
Now while some feel that this is too far-fetched an application, or the probability of success is low, there are others who are daring to delve into it and reap the early mover advantage. I would like to stop at this juncture here (so that it doesn't end up influencing you in one direction) and request your comments on this. We can decide collectively which way it is going...
Now while some feel that this is too far-fetched an application, or the probability of success is low, there are others who are daring to delve into it and reap the early mover advantage. I would like to stop at this juncture here (so that it doesn't end up influencing you in one direction) and request your comments on this. We can decide collectively which way it is going...
Comments
With the ever changing dynamics in the business world today, and changes coming up in the way businesses are done, one of the prime differentiators of success is timely availability of correct and reliable information.Information is derived from data so,consequently,one of the most prominent challenges in today's times is to deal with the huge amount of data generated.
Be it the integrations amongst the various verticals or the automation of the business process, the by product of every activity is data. This generation of data is a never ending process, so enterprises and organizations are looking for vendors who can provide them with systems that can deal with their big data eg. ERP packages etc, and provide them precised information.
Viewing from a consumer's view point,everything is desired at just a click away.Consumers want every answer/information in their mobilephones, their ipads etc. On top of that every customers wants personalization of information sent his way.The rising consumer expectations and complexities in business goals to satisfy those expectations call for something that can gather, validate, process, store and retrieve the precise bit of information we or our consumers are looking for.
So, in my opinion Big data applications will play a big role in our near future and the sooner we become a part of it, better will be the place we hold in future.
Posted by: Usha Bisht | July 24, 2012 9:56 AM
Yes, today it does seem like a far-fetched idea but if we look at the capabilities of smart phones today, who would have imagined them 10 years back! And today the world is changing at a much faster velocity than 10 years back! So who knows? Maybe Big Data driven applications become the order of the day in a couple of years time!
Posted by: Srija Majumdar | July 24, 2012 12:00 PM
Check out this: http://mashable.com/2012/11/07/social-media-election/
Seems big-data is coming into perspective.
Posted by: Mayank Kumar | November 8, 2012 9:26 AM