Big data and the Internet of things (IOT) are two technology trends that are here to stay. In fact, not only are they here to stay, but they will continue to shape the way companies conduct everyday business.
This is according to Greg Hanson, Senior Director EMEA Technical Operations at Informatica, who believes as today's seemingly basic devices like chairs, fridges and microwave ovens become smarter, they too will be adding to the zetabytes of data making its way from users' homes to companies' databases all over the world.
"Today, the typical business person has a desktop computer or notebook, a tablet and a smartphone. Each of these devices has numerous apps or programs and services installed on them and each of these are generating and sending data all the time," he says.
The data sent from these apps gets absorbed by the various vendors and it is up to these vendors to then act on real-time information to be able to offer additional services to their customers. Should a vendor fall behind, in that it is not able to act on this data timeously, it will simply lose out, as the consumer will just move on to the competition.
"Data, or more to the point, structured data, is now an asset worth more than a company's computers, printers and servers, and traditional methods of dealing with data are just not going to suffice anymore," he says.
The three "V's" of dealing with big data
Hanson says should companies want to properly prepare themselves for big data, they should break it down and have business processes in place to deal with these three sections: volume, variety and velocity.
Volume
According to IDC, over 1.8 trillion gigabytes, or 1.8 zetabytes, of data were generated around the world in 2011 alone. However, this was before our phones and tablets got smarter and IDC says this amount of data will more than double in the next decade.
"Everyday devices like fridges will soon be deployed with hundreds of sensors in them. Sensors, for example, that monitor the temperature to sensors that alert users when they are about to run out of milk, and sensors that send fault reports to the fridge manufacturer.
"For example, manufacturers could install sensors into chairs to monitor the durability of a chair's design or even send alerts to the manufacturer when the chair breaks," he continues. Manufacturers are merely limited by their imaginations as to where they can install a sensor and what kind of data they want to analyse.
But, with the volume of data coming in 24/7, a company has to have the technology and business processes to manage it and derive value from it. Without a timely and accurate view of the data, a company is unable to remain agile and responsive to changing business requirements.
Variety
Another obstacle businesses face when dealing with big data is the various types of data they receive on a day-to-day basis. "Data that enters a company through a database is structured, in that it may come from an online form filled in by a customer. This data is easy to analyse as it is all formatted in the correct way with the various fields being filled out appropriately, thus making it easy for an employee to act upon what is being requested," continues Hanson.
But, today's typical company does not just have an online "Contact us" form. It would have a Twitter account, a Facebook profile and a presence on various other platforms. This data is unstructured as each of these platforms accepts data in different ways, making it difficult to sift through the data and separate complaints from requests from compliments. "A company needs to have the business processes and the personnel to quickly sort this data, structure it and save it in a central repository in order to make quick decisions based on what its customers need," he says.
Velocity
The last aspect of being able to deal with big data is coping with the velocity. "Large amounts of data are coming in all of the time and a company has to be able to react quickly to what it is seeing."
Hanson gives the example of a company manufacturing cellphone covers. "The company makes three colours, but one is far more popular than the other two, meaning one will outsell the others more quickly. If the company is able to absorb, structure and analyse this data on the fly, it can quickly adjust its manufacturing processes to match market trends and in turn avoid any surplus and keep itself on top of the game," he concludes.
Greg Hanson will be speaking at Informatica Day, a half-day event designed to bring the data community's brightest minds together to push the boundaries of current thinking and discuss the role of data in the real-time digital enterprise of the future.
The event will be held in Johannesburg on 21 October. Those interested in attending can fill out the registration form found here.
A company that has the latest business processes, the resources and the skills to quickly deal with big data is a company that will stay ahead of the curve.
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