Beyond the Hype – Wining New Markets with Big Data Analysis
Many companies are sitting on the data gold mine, and the explosion in the volume of data generated worldwide feeds a rich source, significant value in our view. The processed information from this data allows companies to gain strategic advantages. However, the challenge for all sectors now, is to analyze the incessant flow of Big Data.
The Challenges of the growing data volume
Every minute, approximately two million searches are conducted on Google. The flow of data from different channels such as Internet, verbal exchanges or social networks, is experiencing unprecedented acceleration.
The volume of data is expected to grow 21% per year by 2018. Meanwhile, the computing capacity and therefore processing of information has increased considerably. Over the last 50 years, the power of microprocessors has increased by 3500, while their price has fallen significantly.
On this basis, the concept of Big Data is born. It covers three dimensions: the operation of the exponential flow generated data (Volume), from different sources (Variety) and cross most often in real-time (Velocity). The financial benefits from their large-scale analysis could run into billions of dollars over the years.
Technological and social revolution that changes everything
Big Data opens up new possibilities. For example, some collect data and make it available, while others developed analytics applications and allow non-technical people to use data. With all these data solutions, even non-technology companies are able to implement the use of Big Data in their core business to gain a competitive advantage and create value.
In the technology sector, creating inherent values in Big Data seems obvious. For example, in the field of IT infrastructure, information collected from sensors about the environment of an object or a machine that connect to each other or to the Internet (e.g., the Internet of Things) has represented a new data source. These use cases become increasingly common and offer many opportunities but also create new requirements for IT infrastructure (sensors, transmission and data storage).
The big players like Google, IBM, Cisco and Microsoft have heavily invested for many years in data center construction but also deployed solutions for Big Data analysis. Now many companies operating in more traditional sectors will be able to take advantage of the revolution of Big Data.
Big Data covers activities in all sectors
Industrial maintenance, customizing offers, energy efficiency, preventive medicine or the autonomous car are examples of different applications of the subject. The profound changes caused by the large-scale data processing capacity are able to redefine the boundaries between sectors and companies will seize the opportunity.
The processed information allows companies to gain strategic advantages. With a greater number of data, companies can optimize existing development (e.g., cost reduction, productivity gains …), create new and more targeted products, or to improve the customer experience. Indeed, a better understanding of the new requirements is clearly an asset.
Cities and even entire countries can also benefit from Big Data analysis. Thus, the administration of resources in real-time is now possible. For example, the Digital Delta project, initiated by the Netherlands in collaboration with IBM, aims to build a platform for the management of water distribution. It should eventually lead to a 15% decline in the cost of management of the blue gold. The market for “Smart City” is estimated for more than $100 billion in 2030 worldwide.
