The cost of ‘Big Data’ a blog from Obin Gurung
Hi, I’m Obin, a Software Engineering Apprentice in Supply Chain here at Holland & Barrett. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to work on a project developing a web-based platform for managing library resources and enabling users to browse, read and save books as their favourites. For those interested, here is the?frontend?and?backend repository on GitHub.
As I worked on the project, I became curious about the importance of data in business decision-making. I realised a larger scale version of the project would depend on the data quality we collected, analysed and used to inform our decisions.
This sparked my curiosity and led me to explore the concept of Big Data, its advantages and disadvantages, and how companies can leverage it to make better business decisions.
Big data has become a buzzword in today's society, referring to large sets of complex statistics collected at a rapid pace. These sets are defined by their volume, variety and velocity. With the right tools and techniques, big data can offer valuable insights for businesses to make informed decisions.
The potential uses for big data are vast and varied. For example, businesses can use it to develop new models, products and services. By analysing large data sets, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behaviours and preferences, leading to better pricing models, relationship building and optimization of supply chains.?
Despite potential benefits, hesitation is evident in businesses to implement Big Data strategies due to high costs associated with computing power, software and storage capacity. However, technological advancements have made these costs less prohibitive in recent years. This article will focus on the potential of Big Data, how to utilise it effectively and limiting factors. Gunther et al. (2017) conducted a review that identified two primary factors which determine the values behind a company’s decisions on capabilities of big data: portability and interconnectivity.
To make the most of big data, businesses need to be able to move and combine data from different places, which are categorised respectively?as "portability" and "interconnectivity." They define portability as “the possibility to transfer and remotely access digitised data from one context of application to be used in other contexts”. On the other hand, interconnectivity was defined as “the possibility to synthesise data from various big sources”.?Both portability and interconnectivity demonstrate big data’s capabilities to collect data from heterogeneous sources and identify the relationships that exist across a variety of data. That’s a mouthful of jargon, so let’s take a closer look in the following sections.?
Portability, Interconnectivity & Costs?
Portability means that data can be easily moved between different places. Interconnectivity means that data can be brought together from different sources to be analysed comprehensively.
Expanding on portability, enables businesses to access a vast amount of information that can be used to improve their operations and make informed decisions. Whereas interconnectivity provides businesses the information to gain a better understanding of consumer behaviour and preferences. When used ethically, big data can help businesses better meet the needs of their customers by analysing their habits and preferences.
As technology improves, so does accessibility for businesses of all sizes. Big Data has the potential to drive innovation and transform the way companies operate. By collecting, analysing and applying big data to their operations, businesses can make informed decisions that are based on a rich analysis of consumer behaviours.
Limiting factors that primarily influenced business decisions around Big Data were things such as computing power, required software and storage capacity. However, with digital advancements reducing the potential costs big data poses, an increasing number of businesses will be able to implement big data collection and analysis to guide business practices. From my personal view, these benefits today outweigh the cons.?
The main benefits observed from businesses utilising big data are major improvements in developing new products and services, business models and improving current business practices. For businesses of all sizes, the doors open to developing healthy customer relations and optimising supply chain efficiency. As for what businesses in what industries should consider Big Data, this can be the following: health, security, science, e-commerce, e-government, manufacturing and more.
In the current day, it is common knowledge that large amounts of data are being shared rapidly across social media platforms and other internet sources, all of which helps the largest businesses such as Facebook, Amazon, Google and more meet the needs of their customers.
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In conclusion, while big data can be complex, it offers significant potential for businesses to make informed decisions and drive innovation. With technology making it increasingly accessible, businesses can benefit from collecting, analysing and applying big data to their operations.
Sources:
Segal, T. (29 November 2022)?
?What Is Big Data? Definition, How It Works, and Uses.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/big-data.asp
Niebel, T., Rasel, F., & Viete, S. (18 June 2018)
?BIG data - BIG gains? Understanding the link between big data analytics and innovation.?
EINT, 28(3), 296-316.?
Gunther, W. A., Rezazade Mehrizi, M. H., Huysman, M., & Feldberg, F. (14 August 2017).?Debating big data: A literature review on realising value from big data.
?J. Strateg. Inf. Syst., 26, 191-209.?