It's impossible to ignore big data. Even industries such as oil and gas — which have historically taken a pass on these technologies — are now gearing up to invest in big data. According to a recent Visiongain report, oil and gas companies are set to spend $3.51 billion on big data this year, while the market at large is headed for a $72 billion dollar future by 2022. Bottom line? Companies need some kind of information handling solution to succeed in the evolving tech landscape, but just throwing money at the problem won't work: Businesses need a well-crafted plan of action to overcome critical data challenges. Here is a look at the top four.
Cost Control
How much does your company want to spend on big data? More importantly, what are your goals? In many cases, the answers to these questions are misaligned, since businesses want real-time insight and full-service, automated data analysis, but aren't ready to invest the needed capital. Two common scenarios result: Under spending coupled with high expectations, which leads C-suite executives to conclude that big data wasn't worth the price of admission, or over spending and expected results, which drains IT budgets and leaves companies armed with insight but lacking available cash to take action.
Avoiding this problem means creating a big data management plan that puts cost/benefit up front: What are your specific short-term goals and how much money can you afford to spend? For best results, it's often a good idea to start small: Pick a single project or data set, spend on the right tools and measure the results. If successful, increase investment and scope.
Cultural Shift
As noted by the American Management Association (AMA), making the move to big data also requires a cultural shift. Part of the shift comes from the bottom up: Front-line employees must be prepared for change in the way data is stored and handled, which in turn affects the decision-making process and their day-to-day operations.
The larger shift, however, must come from the C-suite. Many executives are used to making big decisions based on gut feelings and previous experience; big data changes this paradigm by introducing unique perspectives that may be at odds with C-suite strategies. Making the most of big data means developing a plan that includes space for big data analysis free of executive critique. The goal isn't to eliminate CEO or CISO voices, but give data a seat at the table rather than tossing new insights because they don't mesh with past experience.
Streamlined Storage
Information Management highlights a key big data planning point: storage. While it's nice to consider the potential insight of massive data sets, companies often neglect an important question — where will all this data live? In addition to finding the right analysis and reporting tools, businesses must also seek storage providers that offer scalability and agility; as data sets grow, it's critical that storage solutions can keep pace in terms of sheer size and keep up when information is required for analysis or integration. To avoid the problem of too much data and no place to put it, companies are well-served with plans for dual-storage options: On-site services for critical data requiring immediate analysis and cloud-based solutions allowing them to scale up on demand.
Turn Up The Volume
The last key challenge for companies? Planning for volume. Here is why: Over time, companies naturally generate more and more data, both from new sources and as tools get better at mining current data sets. The result is a kind of catch-22, since as companies spend more on data management, the volume of data ramps up, requiring them to spend even more. Any data plan must include provisions to deal with data at speed. Often, the best way to approach this aspect of big data is by taking a narrow view: Which data streams are necessary right now and which are better used down the line? By making these decisions up front, companies can avoid the problem of too much, too fast.
Want better big data returns? Design a management plan that addresses cost, culture, storage and volume.
Sheldon Smith is a Senior Product Manager at XO Communications, a telecommunication services provider that specializes in nationwide unified communications. XO is one of the nations top SIP trunk providers. Sheldon has an extensive background in UC and his position involves overall product ownership of Hosted PBX, SIP, VoIP and Conferencing.