BIG DATA REACHES DEEP

Google leverages the Big Data model as well, and it is one of the originators of the software elements that make Big Data possible. However, Google’s approach and focus is somewhat different from that of companies like Facebook and Amazon. Google aims to use Big Data to its fullest extent, to judge search results, predict Internet traffic usage, and service customers with Google’s own applications. From the advertising perspective, Web searches can be tied to products that fit into the criteria of the search by delving into a vast mine of Web search information, user preferences, cookies, histories, and so on.

Of course, Amazon, Google, and Facebook are huge enterprises and have access to petabytes of data for analytics. However, they are not the only examples of how Big Data has affected business processes. Examples abound from the scientific, medical, and engineering communities, where huge amounts of data are gathered through experimentation, observation, and case studies. For example, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN can generate one petabyte of data per second, giving new meaning to the concept of Big Data. CERN relies on those data to determine the results of experiments using complex algorithms and analytics that can take significant amounts of time and processing power to complete.

Many pharmaceutical and medical research firms are in the same category as CERN, as well as organizations that research earthquakes, weather, and global climates. All benefit from the concept of Big Data. However, where does that leave small and medium businesses? How can these entities benefit from Big Data analytics? These businesses do not typically generate petabytes of data or deal with tremendous volumes of uncategorized data, or do they?

For small and medium businesses (SMB), Big Data analytics can deliver value for multiple business segments. That is a relatively recent development within the Big Data analytics market. Small and medium businesses have access to scores of publicly available data, including most of the Web and social networking sites. Several hosted services have also come into being that can offer the computing power, storage, and platforms for analytics, changing the Big Data analytics market into a “pay as you go, consume what you need” entity. This proves to be very affordable for the SMB market and allows those businesses to take it slow and experiment with what Big Data analytics can deliver.

Taken from : Big Data Analytics: Turning Big Data into Big Money