It is likely that when someone says ‘Big Data’ to you, you either think that this is for multinational companies, you think that it sounds expensive or you may not know what it is. In this article I am going to explain what ‘Big Data’ is and also have a look at a possible uses for SME’s.

Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data or information. This information is being collected all around us, all of the time, from sensors, traffic cameras, medical scanners, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, financial transaction’s etc. Just to give you an idea of how much information 2.5 quintillion bytes is, it has been said that 5 quintillion bytes of data would be equal to all of the words ever spoken by mankind.

Some other considerations in Big Data are.

Volume: Companies have data of all types, easily amassing terabytes of information.

Velocity: The time in which data changes are recorded is ever decreasing and it is crucial. Data is changing in milliseconds now and now days like in the past.

Variety: Data can now come in a multitude of forms  - structured and unstructured data such as text, sensor data, audio, video, log files.

Veracity:  It is vital to be able to trust the information that you have and need to make decisions. How can you act upon information if you don’t trust it? Establishing trust in big data presents a huge challenge as the variety and number of sources grows.

For the most part this ‘Big Data’ is the story of you and every other person on the planet. The story of where you and your phone goes, the story of all the posts that you put on to social media, the story of what you search for online.

One way mobile phone companies are currently making use of ‘Big Data’ is by analysing the data that they get from mobile devices. This lets them improve their networks and the experience that they are providing to their customers. It also will let them offer new services to retailers who may also have use for this information. This can perhaps let the mobile operator lower the cost of your phone calls or help improve their profit margin.

The key to ‘Big Data’ is the ability to interpret all of the information and put a structure on it where it can be accessed very fast. An organisation which is currently utilising ‘Big Data’ very well is Google. They have access to data information on websites via their initial Google search, emails via Gmail, videos on YouTube and your phones via the phone operating system Android. They also have the expertise to search into ‘Big Data’ with years of search expertise.

One way that SMB’s can benefit from ‘Big Data’ is by researching what is being said about their company on social media. All SMB’s would benefit by knowing what is being said by their competitors and what your future customer requirements are. All this information is contained in ‘Big Data’ and the key is in unlocking the information.

So the key for small and new businesses in Ireland is to find innovative ways to take advantage of ‘Big Data’. ‘Big Data’ is only going to get bigger over the next ten years and the Facebook’s, Google’s and Twitter’s of today will be the new start-up’s that embrace ‘Big Data’. Let’s hope that there are some Irish companies who make it big with ‘Big Data’.

This article was submitted by Mark Kelly from iPing and IT services company based in Dublin city. 01 5241350