In a context where society lives connected to the Internet, all types of action produce data that can be of value to a company: emails, interactions on social networks, smart objects, electronic commerce or web traffic, among others. Likewise, this information allows us to deduce behaviors and prevent possible trends that may develop, anticipating them and thus obtaining notable benefits.
It is necessary to carry out an efficient collection of information in order to be able to carry out a data analysis and obtain conclusions. However, this process is hampered by the characteristics of the data, requires Big Data software Development to accommodate the high volume, messy and unstructured datasets that arrive through different channels.
Characteristics of Big Data
The characteristics of Big Data are also known as “ the Vs ”. Although different enumerations have been established, the most up-to-date are seven:
Volume. There are more and more data production systems, from social networks to objects such as voice assistants for the home or activity bracelets. Faced with this high level of obtaining information that is growing exponentially, storage systems have also been improved, for example through services such as cloud computing.
Speed. Rate at which information grows and is processed. At a time when the concept of immediacy is key in our society, data processing must be fast and efficient. If not, due to the high volume that exists, they become obsolete in a short time and can generate errors when establishing a strategy.
Truthfulness. This factor is key when carrying out data analysis. For this reason, a selection criterion must be specified that guarantees the reliability and trustworthiness of the results obtained.
Variety. The information collected can come from different sources, as well as be of various types (structured, unstructured). This implies a great wealth of research that can be done, but it also makes data processing and storage more difficult.
Value. It is a fundamental quality in data analysis, since despite having a large amount of information, it rarely offers useful content. For this reason, it is important to establish methods that allow us to know which sources may be of greater interest.
Visualization. All this knowledge is meaningless if conclusions are not drawn from it, creating graphs that show the results quickly and easily.
Variability. The work of Big Data does not end when conclusions are drawn, since the information is constantly changing, both due to consumer behavior and the appearance of new data collection systems. For this reason, a periodic control is required to update the information.
Advantages of Big Data
Due to the high volume of information, Big Data offers a very useful source of knowledge for company strategies, also providing answers to questions that had not even been planned. An example of the use of big data that is very common among digital companies is the use of cookies, with which they obtain information about the user and their behavior when using their website, although they can offer even more data.
With this technology, entities can locate possible problems that they did not know they had, predict market trends and study the behavior of their customers when they browse their website. In this way, they not only increase profits, but also build customer loyalty and improve their reputation.
In addition to using it as a strategic tool, companies can find other benefits from Big Data:
Cost reduction. New technologies mean that a server is no longer required to host the data as was traditionally done. This involved economic needs for space, staff and renovation. However, content can now be uploaded to the cloud, storing large amounts of data and finding agile treatment tools at a lower cost.
Speed. Today there is a greater volume of information, but also more agile data processing tools. In this way, the process is reduced and a versatile treatment is offered, allowing decisions to be made quickly.
Customer loyalty. Having a high volume of customer information allows knowing their behavior and needs, being able to personalize the offer, facilitate the purchase process and obtain data on their level of satisfaction. Thus, an intelligent marketing plan can be created with much clearer objectives and limited strategies.