Big Brother? No, no, no, Big Data.
If someone tells you about the Big Data concept in the course of a conversation, do not think that your interlocutor is addicted to the programs of reality TV (a term used by your audience) or trash (as you like to call your detractors). Although it sounds similar, that’s the Big Brother. Although in the background and tangentially, you can find certain similarities, or relationships, between the television phenomenon Big Brother and the latest sensation (at least on the theoretical level) of the universe of marketing.
Definition of Big Data
Big Data would be the set of processes of data collection and analysis in large quantities and very heterogeneous, both in type and origin, with business objectives: improve sales of a brand, company or business, develop campaigns advertising, define marketing strategies, correct errors, optimize sales actions, etc.
Sometimes, the Big Data is related to the analysis of the information that most users leave, often without being even aware, when they hang things on social networks.
But the reality is that the concept of Big Data is much wider, with social networks only one of the stops of its long journey. This can also pass through all 2.0 channels in which users leave their mark: blogs, forums, chats, etc., as well as smartphones and their enormous possibilities in the field of geolocation.
Functioning
The true possibilities of Big Data, and also its needs for technical development and the professionals who are dedicated to it do not have to look for the data collection, but in the way of treating them to get some concrete objectives.
The strong point of Big Data would be the specific treatment of a huge amount of data, some structured and others not, until converting them into added value for a company, adapting them to their specific needs.
The Big Data professional must act as a cook with the specific training and experience necessary to manipulate the ingredients (data) with enough skill to cook specific dishes (information processing), which will satisfy the objectives of the companies: increase sales, launch marketing campaigns, etc.
The Big Data problems
The biggest difficulty of Big Data is to detect and catch, from an immense amount of data, the truly useful for the specific objectives proposed. Normally the most valuable data are everything that can define the profile (target) of the client, his/her activity on social networks and diverse information extracted from smart mobiles.
These needs have very serious technical difficulties. Standard computer equipment has problems to manage so much information in an acceptable time, as well as specific training of professionals. This means that in the development and correction of these two weak points you can find good job opportunities in the immediate future.
Epilogue
Picking up the glove that was launched at the beginning of the article, you can draw a parallelism between the Big Brother program and Big Data. In the television space, dozens of cameras are dedicated to capture and scrutinize the smallest detail of the life and miracles of the contestants: some interesting or morbid and others totally irrelevant, monotonous and boring. On the other hand, the Big Data tries to find and analyze data of interest from the information stream that people spread through social networks and other channels.
The importance of Big Data for organizations
That we live in a world flooded with data is, nowadays, a common place. There is practically no week in which an article in a newspaper or magazine does not overwhelm us with the huge figures of the data that exist in the world or those that are created daily. Beyond those numbers, which are so unimaginable, the evident fact remains that the quantity and variety of available data have grown tremendously in recent years and that organizations do not know what to do with them.
The term Big Data refers precisely to this phenomenon. Big Data means all data, in all its forms, including not only traditional data but also emails, comments on social networks, photos, audio and video, data from instruments and sensors, and even the emotional tone of verbal communication or written. But Big Data is more: it also includes the varied set of technologies that allow analyzing that data.
One might ask: why is it necessary to analyze the data? The answer is that a knowledge of enormous value is hidden. The analysis allows just extracting that knowledge and help to make better decisions and to transform organizations and venture into new business models.
A couple of cases can serve to illustrate the concept: for a credit card company, for example, it could be very valuable to know the routes that your customers usually follow, the places they frequent visit. Why? Because this would allow each client to make personalized offers at the right place and at the right time, thereby increasing sales. The geolocation facilities that cell phones provide today make possible an application of this nature.
Another case: a cell phone company could analyze in real time the browsing of their customers online. This would allow, for example, to know when one of them enters a competitor’s website, and take the corresponding actions to mitigate the risk of the client leaving the company.
The analysis of the data to obtain valuable knowledge from them is not a simple task and, above all, it requires a combination of capacities that are not so frequent. The profile of an analyst of this type certainly includes very good knowledge of the techniques of handling large volumes of data and applied statistics. But, on the other hand, it also includes a deep understanding of business models and a great capacity for communication and leadership.
It is believed that the analysis of large volumes of data is an essential tool for knowledge management, digital transformation and innovation of organizations, and hopefully, this new degree will be a fundamental contribution to the adoption of these technologies by your business.
iPhone app development also enables the use of Big Data on iPhone devices. The Big Data coupled with artificial intelligence will create a world where most activities of human will be automated. Big Data will provide the needed data while AI will use this data to provide intelligence similar to that of the human.
Author Bio:
Ricky Brown is an energetic content strategist and marketer at App Development Companies, the platform that helps you to find best IT Partner for your app, web and software requirements across the globe.
