Game of Data: A Look at Big Data and its Quest for the Throne

How much data is created daily? 2.5 quintillion bytes. (Everyday Big Data Infographic, VCloud News)

'Big Data' is more than just a technology trend or marketing terminology-it's a vital part of the modern business. Gartner's IT Glossary describes Big Data as 'high-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets that demand cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing for enhanced insight and decision making.' What does that mean for you?

Big Data has the potential to unlock a wide range of patterns and trends, much of which can help with better decision making and business strategy. Whether your business needs to adjust the price of a product or even change your hours of operations, Big Data can play a crucial role in the way you choose to manage your business.

1. Volume

Businesses generate and gather high volumes of data every day in the process of doing business. Think about a simple transaction: You can't just sell a widget; you need documentation about who made the widget, where the parts for the widget come from and what they cost, how you're going to market the widget, what you're going to charge for the widget, what you're competitors charge for the widget, and so on. There are a lot of pieces of data that are generated or shared in the course of a day, and the volume of data is just one aspect to understanding Big Data.

2. Velocity

The speed at which businesses move is faster than it was five years ago, thanks to technology and the interconnectedness of global organizations. Not only are there large amounts of data being created, shared or stored, but the speed at which that data is generated has increased.

The 'drinking from a fire hose' cliché perfectly applies to the fast flow of data into and out of organizations non-stop, all day, every day. Most businesses don't track where the data comes from, how it can be used, or where it's stored. This part of Big Data is important to understand as it's a core component of why it's the data deluge has created the need for a new category of data collection or storage.

3. Variety

And then you have variety. On a regular basis, businesses generate a wide variety of data such as customer buying habits, medical data to be analyzed, HR or finance information, or research information for a new venture. This data may not be created or received as what's called structured data, which might be rational or logical data broken into an easily searchable database or spreadsheet. Often times, organizations are also collecting and generating unstructured data, which might be data that is not as easy to analyze or categorize like email.

Unstructured data makes up a majority of businesses data which requires additional algorithms or intelligence to sort through unnecessary information or to mine to required information. To add to this complexity, not all file types for data are the created equal. Think of trying to analyze a word document versus an audio file. This is the final element that makes up our understanding of Big Data, and why it's different from other types of data.

Information, Insight, and Decision Making

Analyzing Big Data requires that you first separate the 'wheat from the chaff' in such a way that makes the data accessible and useable. The right aggregators and tools can gather that data into useable containers and provide you with the proper algorithms to access that data in informative ways. Organizing all of that data into a central repository is an important step in Big Data management. The analysis of Big Data is also where you gain the most insights that are actionable for your business - whether to change a trend, anticipate a future need or strategically react to the market. These days, if your business isn't utilizing Big Data and analytics within their corporate or departmental planning, you're one step behind the competitors.

Protecting That Data

Businesses must pursue dedicated solutions for their Big Data migration needs. These tools must not only be capable of moving large information sets quickly and effectively, but also ensuring the protection of that data when it is in motion, as this is when Big Data is most vulnerable. Solutions designed specifically to meet the needs of Big Data movement can help safeguard the information as it is sent and received by individuals and departments within a given organization and between locations.

Want to learn more about how a secure managed file transfer solution can help manage your Big Data challenges? Contact a Globalscape Solution Specialist today to let us help you!

Disruptive Tech Trends Resources

Undoubtedly, the way we access and receive information, interact with the world around us, and produce data has completely evolved in recent years.

For IT teams, how will some of these tech trends affect the way data is secured, managed, or shared? Are these trends just hype or actually helpful?

In this guide, you'll learn about:

• Some of today's disruptive trends, such as augmented reality and Internet of Things (IoT)
• Key considerations for organizations seeking to take advantage of these trends
• Ways to protect the flow of data as new trends take hold

Download your free eBook today!