When Data Exploded

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that we are, in fact, in the digital age for all purposes. The stratification of income and class simply dictates the Amount of access we have to the digital realm – but access exists on all levels, from the mobile-phone operating everybody to the techie sitting in front of an ultra-powerful machine.

The reasons for going digital were manifold – the fact that data was occupying more tangible space than it was worth being a major one. Imagine the differential engine, or the cassette player – it takes a fraction of that tangible space now to store that amount of data in a drive, or virtually on cloud-based servers. This age ushered in the storage of data in virtual realms whose space we cannot really define in terms of everyday units. The world-wide ‘web’, for that matter, is a densely interconnected mesh of pure data, stored from innumerable sources.

This is precisely where Big Data comes in. The simple understanding of big data is exactly what it says – a huge amount of data, both structured and unstructured. Now, this data comes in many forms. You’ll be surprised at the sheer proximity it has to you. Your smartphone, whenever you do access the social media pages, update Facebook, like a page or even go through your YouTube playlist for the day – is generating data that is merging together in this huge, amorphous mass. Every system, sensor and device generates Big Data – which is where the three ‘V’s’ of Big Data come into play.

Three V’s

The watchwords often used to describe Big Data in data analyst parlance are: Velocity, Volume and Variety. The easiest way to imagine it is in the form of a large, virtual ocean, lapping at an immense coastline during a storm.

Velocity is the sheer speed with which the waves of data come in, and indicates the real-time nature of this data. It suggests that this is not a static dataset that we are trying to define, it is dynamic and fluid, which is one of its most important characteristics.

Volume is the sheer amount of data coming in – since the data is not limited to static datasets that are generated after a period of time and since it continuously tracks everything, it has immense volume. The size of the data is used as a characteristic ‘big’ in Big Data.

Variety is quite self-explanatory. As mentioned, a smattering of devices are currently in the process of generating Big Data. So it is a no-brainer that this data comes in all forms, from simple numeric entry based data to text documents, audio and video. Everything you can possibly imagine, in that sense.

The Big Deal

So what is the Big Deal, really? We knew that there is Big Data available all around us – sure, the sections above may have defined it for us, but so what? What is it used for? More importantly, who is using it?

The answer can fluctuate with your chosen profession – but the big data user is now present in almost every Business that wishes to remain ahead of the competitive curve, every business that wants an edge. We at Click Labs specialize in mining and then analysing this data for several purposes, primarily for businesses that seek our optimization services. Big Data helps entrepreneurs, corporations, governments and several others make decisions – and believe us, they are often big decisions.

We often liken a business idea, or a business to the organic human body. If there were an external technological process that continuously monitored everything in your body – your eye condition, the state of your lungs, memory capacity and so on and so forth, you’d be assailed by a daunting amount of information. That information comes in the form of big data for businesses, and if it were to come in it’s raw, unstructured form, then it would mean trouble – someone needs to make sense of it.

All of this goes into one important thing: Decision Making. With Business Intelligence, the first step is to collect data in a sufficient, dynamic manner – collecting Big Data, in fact – and then subjecting it to rigorous analytics using cutting-edge technology. This data is then synthesized in a way that makes sense – software can now present it in graphic forms that are easy to read and understand.

Decision Making Processes – Made Synaptic

A synapse is the space between two neurons – a synaptic signal is meant to bridge that gap in one electric moment. Our nervous systems work on this simple, defining moment, taking decisions that are crucial to our functioning. Click Labs believes that in the realm of business optimization, the right technology can process that mess of data and help in making these decisions that will not only save businesses, but also help them surge ahead of the competition.

The realms of Banking, Education, the Government, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail and more – all use Big Data to enhance their customer services, and have immense potential to be part of the techno-organic ecosystem that Click Labs can set up in terms of analysing Big Data to make comprehensive decisions. Governments, for example, can be digitally aware of where resources are needed the most, where infrastructural developments need to be implemented, to even tracking down crime and remedying it. Healthcare can be optimized with remote access to patient records, treatment plans and diagnostic information on the fly – crunching that data can relegate appropriate resources to the appropriate regions, improving patient care. There is virtually no industry that cannot be optimized with the help of this invaluable, torrential resource – all you need is the right kind of analytics, with the right kind of decision-making to tap into the immense potential Big Data has.

Awareness is key to understanding the virtual world, a world we cannot necessarily fathom with our senses. Entire firms exist to analyse and interpret the data streams from this world for a reason – we specialize in surfing this tide for you, the concerned businessman. So dive into the world of Big Data, and dive into the future of smart decision-making.