Gold may be a symbol of wealth and prosperity for some. Gold stood its ground firmly for a long time, not letting anyone roll it over. While many came and went, the gold didn’t lose its value and position.
However, the current modern age has posed real challenges to gold. To most, it seems that gold is losing its value.
Why?
Because better alternatives are available, with more potential, providing better returns.
And what are those?
Data – to be specific, big data.
With time, the corporations have emerged with the help of big data. Utilizing it, they’ve paved the way for numerous tech advancements. Most things we see around us are driven using the data.
So, what’s the phenomenon behind big data? How do the companies collect it? Do they conduct mass surveys? Or roll out forms on social media? How do they extract useful data from it?
Well, to answer these questions and many more, we’re going to explain what big data really is.
However, before starting, make sure to get an internet that won’t slow down your data analytics software. A connection like Xfinity is best to run software dealing with large datasets. To know more, connect to Xfinity customer service and find out about their plans and packages.
What is Big Data?
The Three Vs
∙ Volume
∙ Velocity
∙ Variety
How Big Data Works
∙ Integrate
∙ Manage
∙ Analyze
Benefits of Using Big Data
∙ Product Development
∙ Customer Experience
∙ Machine Learning
Bottom Line
What is Big Data?
Big data is no different than traditional data. However, the “big” indicates the large amount of data that is involved in the process. The data may be in a raw or defined format, depending on how the company collects it.
Usually, a company’s market, analytical, and financial decisions are based on the information obtained from the data. Changing market trends, the launch of a new product, marketing campaigns, and other functions that a company performs are also assisted by this data.
The Three V’s:
Three aspects are involved in Big Data. Collectively, they are called Three Vs. These are Volume, Velocity, and Variety.
- Volume: Most times, companies don’t get a pre-defined set of data. One may call it unorganized as well. Moreover, such data doesn’t have a set of values assigned to it. For example, an X or Facebook poll results.
So, with the help of data software, convert the data into meaningful information.
- Velocity: It defines the rate at which the company receives the data. The rate of processing that data is also included in the velocity.
As the velocity of incoming data is usually high, it gets stored in the memory rather than being written on a disk. Most times, companies get the data in real-time, or near to real-time, making it a complex task to store it.
- Variety: Unlike traditional data, big data doesn’t come sorted most time. Moreover, it may include different types of data too. With a diverse dataset, it’s vital to segregate it first before analyzing it.
How Big Data Works:
Big Data includes three major steps. These are:
- Integrate: Traditional ways to integrate data don’t work on big data. For example, ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) aren’t up for the task in the big data.
Software such as SAS, Tableau Big Data, and Microsoft BI, are used to integrate the data. Once done, the data is sent to storage, and that takes us to,
- Manage: Storing data in tera or petabytes is itself a major problem. For that, a company can take take-party services, cloud storage, or both. Once the company needs it to derive value from the stored data, they can use it anytime they want.
- Analyze: The third and final step is to analyze the collected data. Again, using special software, it becomes easier for business analysts to work on the data.
The derived info can be used to make informed decisions. Moreover, using analytics charts and tables, the market picture becomes clearer for companies.
Now, we’ll see how Big Data has been a real game-changer for the companies.
Benefits of Using Big Data:
- Product Development: For companies that rely on innovation, Big Data has been a real boon. Taking insights directly from the consumers, the R&D teams benefit from it. As a result, Big Data drives innovation and rewards us with unimaginable products.
- Customer Experience: Well, customers don’t only share suggestions. They do have reservations as well. Big Data allows companies to pay heed to repetitive suggestions. By working upon those bits of advice, companies can provide a better customer experience.
- Machine Learning: Companies around the world are finding ways to integrate the tedious process. For example, customer support falls in that category. By collecting and analyzing data, it can be fed to a machine. Here, more data means improved services.
So, companies are focused on making machines, able to reduce the workload, and are efficient as well.
Bottom Line:
As we said, gold isn’t the most valuable asset now. It’s the big data, with the ability to drive innovation and produce effective results. Now, more than ever, companies have realized this and working to integrate big data more into their business ecosystems.