Big Data –what is it and how does it work?
Big data is the term used to describe a large amount of data which a company possesses and uses to help it make the right business decisions. Generally speaking, when used to its best advantage, it allows companies to cut costs, make timescales more efficient, improve their range of products and services and make better-informed decisions.
If this big data is used in conjunction with analytics, it becomes possible to ascertain (almost in real time) the causes of breakdowns or defects, offer product ranges to better suit customers’ daily lives, re-calculate risk portfolios much faster and detect any fraudulent behaviour before it can damage your business.
Although big data is being produced and used across a wide range of business sectors, it has so far been the banks who have put it to the most advantageous use, by on the one hand using it to identify and meet client requirements and on the other hand to reduce risk factors due to fraud, while continuing to conform to official regulations.
Big data is also useful to education providers, by for example, helping them to identify students who are at risk, assess students’ progress and put together a more effective assessment method. If used properly, all this can have a positive impact on students, timetables and on the whole education system in general.
When big data is combined with analytics and used by the public administration, it allows public services, such as those concerned with crime prevention or traffic management, to be managed more effectively. In addition, it allows administrations to provide greater safeguards on matters related to issues such as finance and privacy.
In the healthcare sector, big data helps to guarantee that speed and accuracy which are essential in the organisation of clinical records, treatment plans and information about prescription medicines. The main objective in that sector is to use the information to help improve patient care.
Big data is especially useful in the manufacturing sector (to allow companies to work towards better quality and production standards, while reducing waste to a minimum) and in the Retail sector (to allow retailers to deal with clients more effectively, rendering transactions more efficient while maintaining a high volume of business).
To achieve a clearer understanding of the workings of big data, it is first and foremost essential to know where it comes from. Its sources can generally be divided into three different spheres:
- Streaming data (in other words all the data that reaches IT systems from a network of connected devices. Businesses have the opportunity to collect this data and choose which of it to analyse immediately and which to look at later);
- Social media data (data obtained via interaction on social networks, particularly useful in sectors such as marketing, client support or sales);
- Data from public sources (data obtainable from open sources such as dati.gov.it, CIA World Factbook, European Union Open Data Portal, etc.).
Once someone decides to use this information, they must make some decisions such as how to store and manage the data (if necessary low-cost options are available), the quantity of data to be analysed (it should be decided beforehand which data is the most important) and in what way the data obtained will be used (define an effective strategy).
In order for big data to yield concrete results, it is fundamental to have access to technologically advanced equipment, including extensive memory capacity for storage, high-speed processors, open platforms which are not cost-prohibitive (such as Hadoop) and storage tools able to ensure flexibility (such as Cloud) etc.
That concludes our brief summary of big data and its workings: large quantities of information which, if managed properly, can improve your company’s performance.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
