Will future historians look back and note that this was the decade the big data floodgates blew wide open? 90 percent of the world’s data has been created in the last two years, so why wouldn’t this be seen as the time the tide swelled and the wave of big data surged forward? IT managers, faced with the prospect of their company adopting a big data strategy, are having to think about ways of dealing with this torrent of multi-structured data sets and don’t have the benefit of hindsight. This is something real; something they’re having to think about every day. And how IT managers react to this oncoming big data wave will decide whether they sink, swim or ride it all the way towards glory (well, glory within the confines of their company and wider industry — but glory nevertheless).
The huge volumes of information people are creating and storing digitally, and the data that is subsequently generated from that information, is changing the face of business today. A gigabyte of stored data can generate more than a petabyte of related data, and companies that are able to extract value from this are in a powerful position to drive growth.
The wave of big data could possibly wash away businesses unprepared for it, so we’ve put together a primer for IT managers — something that you can cut out and keep, or pass on to your colleagues.