If you wait for
all the hype to die down, and all the dust to settle, it may be too late. Even
as some industries are experiencing a myriad of benefits from Big Data, other
businesses are sitting on the sidelines, watching and waiting. Well, that may
feel safe to be a bystander, but two things are true about everyone who stands
by and watches: first, they never reap the benefits of the action, and, two,
they are not protected from danger by not participating.
With that in
mind, let’s take a look at why Big Data is such a Big Deal and why you need to
be both interested and informed. Data, and the compiling of data, are now an
inescapable part of life. Everyone, everywhere is collecting data – from
phones, to credit cards, to TV broadcasters, medical professionals, and
transportation hubs. The flow is constant, and for all intents and purposes,
limitless. Given the sheer immensity of the opportunity, it’s a cinch that
someone would figure out how to both profit from the data – and to sell that
profitability.
Several years
of recorded benefits now prove the worth of Big Data extrapolation, and
businesses that seek to realize those benefits are poised to outpace their
competition.
But the caveat
to all this – and the fact that makes Big Data wonderful – is that the benefit
is not in how BIG the data is or how much of it can or is being collected. The
major spark of the Big Data revolution is that, finally, all that previously
lost data is now actionable, and can be monetized. And, as computing power
continues to exponentially increase, the potential for action and profit
increase along with it.
Add the human
ability to solve puzzles and see patterns, to the ability of computers to
crunch data, and you have a powerful recipe for success. But, Big Data also
poses some risks and concerns. People wonder about security, about wasting time
with frivolous connection exercises, and pattern searches. These are legitimate
concerns that paint in vivid relief exactly why businesses should align their
efforts with experts in the field.
Businesses have
been reaping the benefits of Big Data for years, but the marketplace success
has now begun to translate into academic pursuit. Major universities, such as
MIT and Harvard, are seeing vastly increased interest in, and attendance at,
coursework that involves or centers on data gathering and comprehension. That
means the next generation of business leaders, researchers, and marketplace
innovators will enter the workforce with a foundational understanding of the
basics of Big Data. Big Data application will likely go from “new idea” to
“business as usual” in less than a decade.
David A.
Steinberg is CEO of ZETA
Interactive, a leading big data company.
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