Big data trends in 2017

Big data is now no longer the preserve of big corporates – businesses of all sizes are leveraging the information they have in order to improve their services through customer insights, competitor comparisons and internal studies. A whole new wave of software has allowed us to harness the power of big data more effectively, and in this blog, we look at some big data trends to have emerged in 2017:

1. Dark data

‘Dark data’ isn’t as scary as it sounds. It refers to the wealth of information found in filing cabinets across the country which have not made it to digital yet. Naturally, when it comes to big data we think of digitally sourced information, but paper based information can be increasingly used in big data aggregation, especially when data which covers an organisation’s historical timeline is being gathered. This can help companies paint a more comprehensive picture which stretches further back than the internet age.

2. Up in the Cloud

While massive data centres may have been the home for much of the information collated by organisations in the early days of big data, now more heads of procurement are seeing the benefits which come with Cloud applications. Namely, the ability to cut costs, enjoy more scalability according to the size of projects, and plug in and out of solutions with the greatest of ease. Software as a Service (SaaS) models look set to characterise big data processes from here on in.

3. Faster analytics

Big data can back up marketing campaigns brilliantly, engendering more intelligent ways to read customer behaviour and identify what engages a market. But it can also inform ‘back of house’ very well, giving organisations a better idea than ever before of how different departments and individuals are performing. That’s probably why we have seen faster and more easily digestable analytics appear as big data trends. Department heads don’t necessarily want to have to liaise with IT or data specialists every time they need to look at the bigger picture – they benefit from easy access to meaningful data which can inform their decisions.

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