Implications of Big Data
Scope for Big Data
The biggest opportunity for unstructured data is to tie it into business performance and business context. Connecting what people are saying and what a business is actually experiencing in terms of sales or other metrics would bring context to the data. Getting this right may require rethinking how the data is analyzed.We are drowning in data, and tweets, posts and video are not the structured data that fits well into relational databases for traditional querying. As a result, big data simply requires a new way of thinking about how to store and analyze data to accommodate these new realities and turn insights into actionable decisions. Understanding the conversation of social media requires a new, more holistic view to make sense of the data. Text Analytics uses natural language processing techniques to “listen” to massive numbers of social media posts real-time.
Wide Variety of Data
By applying hundreds of algorithms, metrics can be created to derive sentiment and, in some cases, the underlying emotional state of the author. Understanding emotion is the key to predicting behaviors such as whether a product will be returned to the store, whether a restaurant will get a second visit, or whether a movie will be recommended to a friend. Big data can also be applied to video, photos and even voice. For example, emotion recognition software can photograph someone’s face repeatedly during an interview, offering marketers faster and more accurate insight on their product
Varied Uses
There’s huge opportunity to be found in the emerging patterns in big data. In healthcare, insight into the spread of influenza in a city can be revealed by viewing Internet search terms for the flu. Big data also enables retailers to use real-time transaction data to manage their inventory, restocking popular merchandise and marking down poor sellers more effectively than ever. That same data can be used to predict what the demand will be for new products for the next holiday season.
