The birth of Big Data and the revolution of analytics
Together with the revolution of analytics, the most commonly heard buzzwords in business today are ‘Big Data’.
Using Big Data provides excellent insights from the volume of data created across industries such as: –
- banking
- finance
- healthcare
- education
- manufacturing
- government
Most importantly, it’s as relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as it is for giant conglomerates.
What is Big Data?
Big Data enables Companies to make well-informed business decisions by: –
- Predicting what may happen in the future
- Discovering new business connections
- Monitoring situations as and when they change
- Highlighting the consequences of actions or choice
Having the ability to run different scenarios of your business plan will help you to see problems before they arise. At the same time discover new business opportunities and ultimately plan more targeted strategies.
New connections give a fresh perspective on your processes and the ability to analyse situations in ‘real time’. You can use your available resources more efficiently.
Digital footprint
Our growing digital footprint helps us to collect data from a growing number of sources, such as those listed below: –
- Social media posts and interactions
- Digital photos and videos
- Retail transaction records
- GPS mapping
- Internet searches
- Mobile phone use
Through multiple mediums, businesses can access and create content faster than ever. However, 90% of data around the world was created during the last 2 years.
The engine behind Big Data
Transformation of regular data into Big Data is down to advancements in technology. Software, apps and tools at our disposal enable us to analyse volumes of valuable information. Resulting in a revolution in business insights, decisions and strategy.
Big Data is only as ‘big’ as the data analytics solution that is behind it. Data generated and fed through data analytics tools, helps companies to understand their own business. Therefore, making decisions to boost efficiency.
THE HISTORY OF DATA ANALYTICS
1950s
Compared to today’s standards the collection of data and analysis was very basic during the 1950’s. Reading and sorting through many documents involved a tedious process. Along with the inputting of relevant information into physical spreadsheets.
1980s -1990s
During the 1980’s and 1990’s productivity and business analysis received a major boost. This was due to the advent of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
2000 to present
The clout and scope of data analysis increased due to the introduction of specific business intelligence tools. Large amounts of data are placed into easily digestible visual forms when using data visualisation tools.