By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data-driven white label SEO
    Does Data Mining Really Help with White Label SEO?
    7 Min Read
    marketing analytics for hardware vendors
    IT Hardware Startups Turn to Data Analytics for Market Research
    9 Min Read
    big data and digital signage
    The Power of Big Data and Analytics in Digital Signage
    5 Min Read
    data analytics investing
    Data Analytics Boosts ROI of Investment Trusts
    9 Min Read
    football data collection and analytics
    Unleashing Victory: How Data Collection Is Revolutionizing Football Performance Analysis!
    4 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The Big Question In Big Data Is…What’s The Question?
Share
Notification Show More
Aa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Data Management > Best Practices > The Big Question In Big Data Is…What’s The Question?
AnalyticsBest PracticesBig DataBusiness IntelligenceCollaborative DataData ManagementData MiningData QualityData VisualizationData WarehousingDecision ManagementPredictive AnalyticsSentiment AnalyticsSocial DataSocial Media AnalyticsSoftwareStatisticsText AnalyticsUnstructured DataWeb AnalyticsWorkforce AnalyticsWorkforce Data

The Big Question In Big Data Is…What’s The Question?

RWang
Last updated: 2012/07/19 at 12:19 PM
RWang
7 Min Read
SHARE



More Read

big data and IP laws

Big Data & AI In Collision Course With IP Laws – A Complete Guide

Data Security Unveiled: Protecting Your Information in a Connected World
Empowering Parents With Big Data: Ensuring Child Safety And Development
Security In Automated Document Processing: Ensuring Data Integrity And Confidentiality
Unleashing Victory: How Data Collection Is Revolutionizing Football Performance Analysis!

All The Current Talk Of Big Data Technology Misses The Point The hype around big data has crescendoed to the levels of SOA in the early 2000’s, cloud in the late 2000’s, and social in the past few years. Unfortunately the hype is creating three main pitfalls:

  1. A morass of confused definitions. In fact a quick survey of any educated audience, yields a multitude of definitions. Some folks see big data as large data sets and data warehouses, others see big data as code for analytics and BI. Many see the output of big data as infographics or the hardware behind the support of big data. The V’s of big data continue to expand from volume, velocity, and variety to include veracity, viscosity, and virality. Some folks even have 16 V’s in their definitions.
  2. Solutions confusion among buyers. A technology vendor land grab for mind share with big data is happening now the same way everyone adopted cloud. Hardware vendors now enable big data. Storage providers now deliver big data solutions. Integration vendors provide plumbing and intelligent connections for big data. Analytical vendors now all support big data. Some folks like to confuse Hadoop with big data. Everyone has a solution, just not the solution a buyer thinks they need. Confused capabilities continue to proliferate amidst a lack of good customer references. Customers feel the chaos.
  3. Discussion on technology options not business problems. The discussion about big data has evolved into a technology conversation not a business value or transformation conversation. Clients immediately talk about products and technologies without defining the problem to be solved. Technology investments take over the discussions on solution development.

Recommendations: Focus On the Questions To Ask, Not The Answers.

Despite this chaos, organizations can escape the pitfalls of big data confusion. Business leaders should focus the discussion back to business value. In the case of big data, the big question is what is the question? Start each project by asking the following:

  • What are the questions that need to be asked?
  • What are the answers that help us move from data to decisions?
  • Can we shift insight into action?
  • How do we tie information to business process?
  • Who needs what information at what right time?
  • How often should this information be updated, delivered, and shared?

The Bottom Line: Big Data Is About Making Decisions In The Future Not Rehashing The Past

The history in moving from data to decisions is littered with failed technologies. The failure of data warehouses to provide real-time data led to the creation of data marts. Data marts failed to provide complete and updated and comprehensive views. The world moved to business intelligence to access insight yet this still did not address the issues. A movement to master data management attempted to address the lack of a central repository. Information governance emerged as a key people and process issue. Users over the past 20 years saw the complete cycle repeat itself.

After spending hundreds of millions in time and money, existing solutions still don’t solve the problem. Why? The market and business environment have changed. Data moves from structured to unstructured. Sources exponentially proliferate. Data quality is paramount. Real-time creates too much information. It’s not about real time being fast enough. Real-time is irrelevant because speed does not trump fidelity. Quantity does not trump quality.Context is key as we need to shift from real-time to right time data based on roles, processes, location, time, and relationships.

Yet all this is still irrelevant. Organizations must address the key issue – how can an organization or leader make the right decision? Business questions remained unanswered despite the massive number of reports and views and charts. Organizations must make the shift to asking the right questions instead of seeking the right answers. The big shift is about moving from data to decisions. This is transformational in thinking and not easy to achieve. However, this is the journey ahead and big data is one small part.

Your POV What business problem will require you to start with Big Data? What are the key outcomes? Where do you expect to move the needle? Add your comments to the blog or send us a comment at R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org or R (at) ConstellationRG (dot) com

Resources

  • Monday’s Musings: Beyond The Three V’s of Big Data – Viscosity and Virality
  • Monday’s Musings: The Three V’s of Big Data
  • Research Report: Rethink Your Next Generation Business Intelligence Strategy
  • Monday’s Musings: Balancing The Six S’s In Consumerization Of IT
  • Monday’s Musings: A Working Vendor Landscape For Social Business
  • Research Report: The Upcoming Battle For The Largest Share Of The Technology Budget Part 1
  • Research Report: How The Five Pillars Of Consumer Tech Influence Enterprise Innovation
  • Best Practices: Five Simple Rules For Social Business

Reprints Reprints can be purchased through Constellation Research, Inc. To request official reprints in PDF format, please contact Sales .

Disclosure Although we work closely with many mega software vendors, we want you to trust us. For the full disclosure policy, stay tuned for the full client list on the Constellation Research website.

* Not responsible for any factual errors or omissions. However, happy to correct any errors upon email receipt. Copyright © 2001 -2012 R Wang and Insider Associates, LLC All rights reserved. Contact the Sales team to purchase this report on a a la carte basis or join the Constellation Customer Experience!

TAGGED: best practices, bi, big data, BigData, business analytics, business intelligence, business value, data governance, data import, data integration, data quality, data reduction, data retention, data retrieval, data stewardship, data visualization, data warehouse, database, decision services
RWang July 19, 2012 July 19, 2012
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

big data and IP laws
Big Data & AI In Collision Course With IP Laws – A Complete Guide
Big Data
ai in marketing
4 Ways AI Can Enhance Your Marketing Strategies
Marketing
sobm for ai-driven cybersecurity
Software Bill of Materials is Crucial for AI-Driven Cybersecurity
Security
IT budgeting for data-driven companies
IT Budgeting Practices for Data-Driven Companies
IT

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

big data and IP laws
Big Data

Big Data & AI In Collision Course With IP Laws – A Complete Guide

5 Min Read
data security unveiled
Security

Data Security Unveiled: Protecting Your Information in a Connected World

8 Min Read
child online safety data
Big Data

Empowering Parents With Big Data: Ensuring Child Safety And Development

13 Min Read
data integrity
Data Management

Security In Automated Document Processing: Ensuring Data Integrity And Confidentiality

7 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

data-driven web design
5 Great Tips for Using Data Analytics for Website UX
Big Data
ai is improving the safety of cars
From Bolts to Bots: How AI Is Fortifying the Automotive Industry
Artificial Intelligence

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?