You may have heard of the term “big data”. But what does this term really mean? Generally speaking, big data is a large amount of loosely organized, uncategorized information that needs to be accurately processed into useful reports that can be used to make decisions – decisions often made by business analysts and IT consultants in San Diego about how to market products, plan for the future, etc. This data is constantly being changed and added to, and can range from the names of people and contact information to web sales, social media and even audio and video files.
The Amount of Data Being Processed
To get a grasp of the amount of data that is being processed, think of a river of information the size of an ocean that is constantly changing and flowing at a high rate of speed. The size of this data can be measured in exabytes, which is 1,024 petabytes, or zettabytes, which is 1 trillion terabytes of data. All this information can come from more than one source. This means that data can be formatted differently from one source to another, and must be accounted for properly.
Emergence of New Technologies
The emergence of big data has created the need for new technologies to make sense of all the data that is collected. Some examples of these technologies are Data mining, Machine learning, Data fusion, and Natural language processing. The basic goal of these technologies is to provide an automated way to consolidate data into a useful format that can be interpreted easily. It also aims to consolidate data in a timely manner so that data does not become obsolete before it is collected.
Big data has also increased demand for organizations specializing in information management. Most large corporations need to have custom applications to meet their individual needs. Needless to say, this can be very expensive. In fact, the big data industry is a multibillion dollar industry that plays a very specialized role in todays technological world.
The Future of Big Data
Big data is something that is not in direct view of the everyday business owner, but it is something that users should be aware about. Since much of big data information is business oriented it is wise to stay informed about how this data is being used and collected. That way you can be in a position to utilize and even influence business trends shown by big data solutions.
For more information about data organization or backup, reach out to the San Diego IT support professionals at Syndeo Communications. Our experienced consultants would be more than happy to answer any of your questions over the phone or during a free consultation. Call 760-650-3300 for more information.