What's the big deal about Big Data?

Posted by Gregory Heinz on Apr 1, 2015 3:10:00 PM

Originally published in the March/April issue of AICC Boxscore

As a marketer working in the information technology space, I am constantly challenged by innovations that address key issues in business productivity and data security. I may not always comprehend terms such as big data, business intelligence, fabrics, and cloud computing; they require a little research to uncover their meaning. My goal is to share these findings with you and attempt to explain, in the simplest way possible, how these concepts can impact your business. Today, let’s tackle “big data.”

Wikipedia defines big data as “an all-encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large or complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional data processing applications.” Further digging reveals that there are two types of data: structured and unstructured. Structured is the traditional data we capture from our business systems and store in databases. Unstructured is everything else—email, social media, website interactions, customer services conversations, etc. The latter makes up nearly 90 percent of all data, which is eye-opening when you consider how much we rely on data to make informed business decisions and how little unstructured data we can comprehend.

bigdataWhen compared over history, the amount of new information generated today is shocking. Consider this: Researchers estimate that 90 percent of all the data in the world was created within the last two years. The number they ascribe to the amount of data now in existence is 50 petabytes (1 petabyte = 1 million gigabytes). Translating this into a more tangible form, 50 petabytes would be equivalent to the amount of information you could store on the sheets paper made from 2.56 billion trees.

While the numbers may be difficult to comprehend, the opportunity presented by big data is real. The challenge is figuring out what data is most important to your business, understanding how to capture it, and then translating the data into easily consumable and cost-effective matter. The reality is that the solution to measuring much of this data is “to be determined”; however, new business intelligence tools are making progress.

Business intelligence can be defined as the set of techniques and tools used to transform raw data (big data) into meaningful and useful information for business analysis purposes. By leveraging today’s business intelligence systems, organizational leaders are able to see dashboards of detailed data on all aspects of their business, which for packaging manufacturers could include financial, production, and customer data. The goal is to leverage the data to achieve operational excellence and gain a competitive advantage.

Consider these four basic and very achievable objectives of business intelligence systems:

  • Fact-based decision-making — Accurate sales and financial data will improve decisions on product direction and operational improvements by offering profitability by product line, on-time shipping analysis, and trailer utilization.

  • Identifying opportunities — Act swiftly and correctly in response to new opportunities by knowing which customers are most profitable, historical quote-hit ratios, and average lead time based on order type.

  • Eliminating waste — Measure size and throughput by machine, department, and shift to identify areas of waste or loss that may have previously gone unnoticed in a large organization.

  • Tracking corporate objectives — With detailed information on individual employee, department, and plant performance, leadership can better align and track organizational performance against corporate objectives.

These examples are just a few of the opportunities available to organizations that are willing to buy into the big data hype. Those still considering should not wait, as the big data market is only getting bigger. According to an International Data Corp. forecast, big data is set to reach $16.9 billion in market size in 2015, displaying more than 500 percent growth from the $3.2 billon market in 2010. Plus, with a compound growth rate at 10 times that of the overall technology market, there is no denying its staying power.

Topics: AICC, Business Intelligence