We live in a world powered by data. What was once thought to be a tool for large corporations has now found its way into the business, branding, and SEO marketing strategies behind your favorite local Mom & Pop shops.
Data is often a “hot button” topic within the media, in the news, and on social feeds. That’s because our data is constantly collected, stored, researched, and used to make the best decisions possible across business, politics, science, etc.
You may have heard the term “Big Data” thrown around quite often these days. But, what exactly is Big Data? And, can small to medium-sized companies use big data to further fuel their business? In today’s blog, let’s explore these questions and find out why you shouldn’t be ignoring the possibilities and opportunities behind Big Data.
First of All, What Is Big Data?
In simple terms, big data is a concept describing large volumes of data. And, when we say large, we mean LARGE. In fact, big data is so large and complex that it cannot be processed by ordinary computing devices, and it’s growing exponentially year after year.
While your company may not host its own room dedicated to big data servers, you more than likely tap into big data infrastructures every time that you perform social media or Google analytics research. These platforms collect heaps upon heaps of data for businesses to view, interact with, and use to strategically plan business operations and endeavors.
The Three “Vs” Of Big Data
There are three main components of Big Data that we need to consider. They have become known as that three “Vs,” and are as follows:
Volume
As we’ve stated, big data is BIG DATA. Back in 2013, Facebook revealed that it had stored 250 billion photos within the platform, with about 350 million new photos uploaded each day. Can you imagine that? 250 BILLION photos – and that’s 8 years ago!
This represents the perfect example of the vast size of Big Data when we’re talking about pure volume. Let’s add to the fact that the smartphones in our pockets are constantly collecting data based on most of our actions on and off the phone throughout the day. This heaping, almost mind-warping amount of data is stored and processed.
Velocity
Velocity is how fast data is generated and processed to meet demand. In today’s world, data streams at unprecedented speeds. It’s so fast, in fact, that we’re able to tap into servers across the world to watch our favorite movies, stream music, and to browse social media. And, while we tap into those data sources, we’re also collectively providing an enormous amount of data back in. This flow is massive, continuous, and constantly getting faster.
Variety
Streaming platforms, social media, photographs, individual tweets, encrypted files, emails, etc., all represent the variety of data that can be collected, stored, and processed for future use. Each set of data is different and tells its own story. When you further organize these data sets into different categories, algorithms and businesses can begin to recognize patterns regarding niche-like consumer behavior, effectively building business models around that behavior.
Should Small Businesses Use Big Data?
Yes! If you’re a small company neglecting the Big Data opportunities at your disposal via social media and various analytics platforms, you’re surely missing out on exciting business opportunities. Big Data provides insight into the habits of your consumers – sort of like an infinite feedback loop, allowing you access into consumers’ buying habits, wants, and needs.
Big Data isn’t exclusive for big companies, but make no mistake, they are using it and you should be as well. As Sam Polakoff of Forbes states, “If you’re a small business and you need one good reason to pay attention to big data, here it is: because your largest competitors do.”
With much of this Big Data migrated to the cloud, it’s never been more accessible for small-to-medium-sized businesses to access these sets of data and utilize it for their own business success.
Categorised in: Business Transformation, data management, Digital Age