Big Data -- To Improve Security?

A good amount of organizations still have NO clue when it comes to the use of Big Data to improve security operations. However, Preston Wood (CISO and Executive VP, Security, Zions Bancorporation) has been using it to "bolster his security program" for a long while now. But how have they been able to achieve this?

1. They adopted Big Data early before it became known by that name. They were producing around 3 terabytes of data on a weekly basis (from their security tools and devices alone) as early as the 1990s. They found a way, that early, to "make sense of its security posture."

Zion's approach was to "make the big data approach a central piece of its security." This was different from how others approach such data (Others saw such data as potential holes in their defenses). This approach helped them see clues of intrusion and potential breaches.

Learn more about Big Data improving security, click here...

About the Author: Shane Penrod is a Florida Native that currently resides in Tampa Florida with his beautiful Fiance Jaime and their 7 dogs. Shane is passionate about the emergence of Big Data and its endless potential, an Internet Marketer by trade, and an entrepreneur at heart. You can follow Shane's updates on bigdatacompanies.com, Twitter, Facebook, and G+.

Jumping Into Big Data? Some Things To Consider

It is no longer a question of whether your business stands to benefit a lot from Big Data. We've gone past that stage in the lifecycle of this technology or phenomenon (whichever you find more suitable). But where do you start with the implementation? According to Eric Knorr of infoworld, it all has to do with the problems you want to solve in the first place.

He looks at a number of scenarios (Here's a summary of what he captures in his article)...

1. Businesses That "Don't Want To Pay Oracle More Money"

Although this isn't a problem that should really be associated with Big Data, the fact remains that applications used in Big Data can help you deal with such a challenge.

Businesses have, by default, used Oracle as a "battle-tested, unassailable RDBM". However, NoSQL solutions (which are usually open source) perform a lot better for much lower cash outlay. This is especially the case when complex transactions, relational capability, two-phase commits, etc don't factor-in in database needs.

Furthermore, when working on projects that have to do with web applications (where instant scalability is demanded); there are a number of low-cost alternatives.

Read more scenarios here...

Big Data -- A Big Opportunity For Service Providers

Services providers have come to a point where they now see the big opportunities that Big Data represents. Yes, they've gone from the struggles of capturing or managing huge data volumes to a point where they now see the true business potential. This is the thought captured by Dana Porter, Head of Global Marketing at Amdocs, a provider of customer experience systems and services.

Some industry buzz words ("Big Data" and "cloud" come readily to mind) often lose their true meanings with time. The wrong use, however, shouldn't take away from the fact that communications providers, for example, will be able to meet their customers' demands better because of Big Data.

She makes some important points. The first is the rising costs of storage for organizations. While it is true that the cost of storing a gigabyte of data is a lot less than it was a few years ago, the fact that data volumes have literarily exploded means that companies still need to budget very significant amounts to store such massive volumes of data assets.

Take for example, that the projected volume of IP traffic is expected to hit 1.3 Zettabytes by 2016 and it will give this some perspective. So while cost per gigabyte of storage is down, businesses now have to deal with data volumes that were simply inconceivable just a few years ago.

To read more, click here...

Ford Exploits Big Data To Improve Results -- Lessons For Your Business

Ford has positioned itself to take advantage of Big Data in such a way that is guaranteed to improve their business results. They have adopted an approach that focuses on gathering and analyzing data from their best processes and vehicles to help them streamline processes, improve manufacturing and overall quality.

Michael Cavaretta (One of the major brains behind this move by Ford) is part of a group of experts who have gathered in Newport Beach, California for the Open Group Conference. To his credit, he has led projects at Ford that have helped them use internal data to determine new features that will make their vehicles stand out.

Dana Gardner (Principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions) was able to interview him and here are a few points from that interview...
1. The cost of data storage is a lot lower now. This means that organizations don't have to worry about sorting data sets that should be kept for the long term. You just keep the whole lot and gain the benefits of having your complete data assets. In his words, Cavaretta says: "I have yet to have a circumstance where somebody is giving me too much data."

The truth is that you can do a lot more when you don't have to throw some data sets out. NOT having to throw anything out means you can answer a wider variety of questions now and in the future.

To read more points from this interview, click here...

How To Fail With Big Data? Have Unrealistic And Vague Goals

One of the major reasons for Big Data failure in many organizations is not taking the time to set out clear and realistic goals from the very beginning. Doug Henschen (Executive Editor, InformationWeek) reports on findings made from a survey of IT staff (Conducted by Infochimps — A cloud-services provider).

The survey, which considered the opinions of 300 IT staffers, showed the following…

1. There are unrealistic expectations of Hadoop. Many have the erroneous belief that it can handle all their Big Data challenges. Relying on Hadoop-based techniques alone will hamper an organization’s ability to meet its needs for analysis. To read on this further, click here...

Big Data and Cloud Computing -- Are They Threats?

It's not often that people see technological advancements as threats. However, the reality on ground for many workers is that such advances have rendered them surplus. And as many of them would point out, two phenomena (Big Data and cloud computing) seem to play big roles in the challenges they face. An article I came across on Washington Post gave intriguing examples.  The examples pose the question: "Should your business step away from the use of Big Data because it renders certain classes of workers surplus?"  Read about two of the examples and answer to the question, click here...

Big Data Governance -- Does Your Organization Need It?

Sunil Soares is one of the leading authorities when it comes to data governance. He has made significant contributions through his books, industry websites and while he worked with IBM. His new book: “Big Data Governance, an Emerging Imperative” happens to be the first volume by an expert to deal comprehensively with the subject matter. Jim Ericson (Editorial Director, Information Management) spoke with him on the timing and purpose of his book.

His book describes Big Data governance as emergent and when Eric asks how emergent it is, he (Sunil Soares) pointed out a number of things...

1. Many CIO and CTO clients don't even realize that they are already dealing with Big Data. In a particular instance one of such executives said he was focused on the "governance of small data".

But that said; it doesn't matter what the CIOs and CTOs want to call it. If it is Big Data then there are going to be serious governance implications. One example cited is the merging of social media data with a company's master data. Facebook, for instance, has a policy that demands that you delete a person's data from your database if they "unfriend" you.

Challenges like this make data governance imperative.

Click here, to read more...

About the Author: Shane Penrod is a Florida Native that currently resides in Tampa Florida with his beautiful Fiance Jaime and their 7 dogs. Shane is passionate about the emergence of Big Data and its endless potential, an Internet Marketer by trade, and an entrepreneur at heart. You can follow Shane's updates on Big Data Companies, Facebook, and G+.

Changes Big Data And Technology Have Brought Into The Retail Industry

There was once a time when retailers relied on large spreadsheets to keep track of things. Critical employees had to fly around in order to find the best products and maintain the best inventory. Today, the scenario is totally different. Big Data has played a part in the changes witnessed in the retail industry. Some have adapted well to the changes (some have even taken advantage of the changes) and some have struggled with them. Marianne Bickle (Contributor, Forbes.com), looks at some of the changes that Big Data and technology have brought about...  To read 4 of the changes, click here...

About the Author: Shane Penrod is a Florida Native that currently resides in Tampa Florida with his beautiful Fiance Jaime and their 7 dogs. Shane is passionate about the emergence of Big Data and its endless potential, an Internet Marketer by trade, and an entrepreneur at heart. You can follow Shane's updates on BigDataCompanies.com, Facebook , and G+.

Big Data -- Does It Make The End Of The Theorist?

Are computers going to actually become capable of understanding subjects like human history and literature? Is Big Data going to make your theorist "useless" much like the internal combustion engine made the use of horses as energy drivers obsolete?

Ian Steadman of Wired takes a look at this and draws a number of important conclusions...

1.  Big Data (and the processing power of supercomputers) and better analyses tools mean that massive volumes of data can now be processed within very short time frames. Once areas that have been restricted to the theorist can be treated as a big data problem, they could be analyzed as such with often very remarkable (or rather interesting results).

2. Whereas previous approaches to analyses depended on starting with a hypothesis and then stepping out to prove or disprove, Big Data gives the researcher the opportunity to spot real patterns that have nothing to do with previous bias. In other words, the hypothesis follows analyses and NOT the other way round. Seemingly unconnected data sets can eventually turn up interesting patterns that couldn't have been possible otherwise.   Read other conclusions here...

Big Data -- What Do You Want To Do With It?

You can bet that Big Data can help your business achieve a number of goals. It can help you cut down costs, develop better products, target your customers better and so on. However, it is important that you also bear in mind that it is "unlikely to realize" every benefit possible with it -- At least, NOT at the very beginning.

Thomas H. Davenport (a guest contributor at WSJ.com) stresses the importance of deciding what your business or organization really wants from Big Data before you set sail. He believes it is a very important question because it will determine a number of things that are critical to successful implementation.  Read these valid points here...

Small Businesses To Enjoy The Convergence Of Big Data And SaaS In 2013

It's a fact that many mid to large-sized businesses have experienced increased productivity thanks to the use of Big Data and Saas (Software as a service) applications. Marketing teams, for example, are able to access huge amounts of data that help them gain valuable insights on their customers' behaviors on their sites and how they interact with their products/services.

However, most small businesses have NOT usually been able to experience benefits like this. In other words, they hear a lot about Big Data, but can only imagine how much better their businesses would be if only they could implement Big Data analysis as effectively in their businesses.

Chris Luo (VP, Marketing at FiveStars -- Previously with Facebook and then Google Adwords) believes that 2013 will witness a change -- Small businesses will benefit from the convergence of Big Data and Saas.

This would be in spite of the fact that there are a number of challenges that stand in their way. But to keep things in perspective, he believes that the impact on small businesses will be different from what enterprises have experienced so far in a few key areas...  Read further on these key areas here...

Big Data -- Ensuring Effective Collaboration

With the explosion of Big Data, what happens when you have to execute large projects that typically involve many people (often in different areas of the world) and millions of documents? What happens as your project "generates a massive amount of intelligence"? You need an effective collaboration platform that will help your business benefit from Big Data without hampering any aspect of your project.

Leigh Jasper (CEO and co-founder of Aconex, a provider of online collaboration solutions) offers his advice. He points out that the answer is in getting a collaboration service that has the following features...  Read them here...

Big Data -- Before You Take A Plunge

Businesses now have the capacity to capture a wide variety of data at a velocity that would be best described at hyper-sonic  This means that the average business has more information to gather valuable insights that will help shape important decisions.

In fact, many people see Big Data as one of the factors that are setting the stage for a revival of sorts in the US manufacturing sector (because they are far ahead of their contemporaries globally). However, Al Bredenberg's article at Thomasnet.com draws attention to a few factors that must be added to the mix if the benefits of Big Data are to be seen especially by manufacturers...  Find them out here...

Big Data -- Survey Shows The Big Potential

Anyone who has been following the trend faithfully knows that Big Data has big business potential. People have asked questions about how to deliver more customized utility bills, better medical diagnosis, develop better products, detect fraud before it happens and give better forecasts of business trends. The answer lies within Big Data. Many of us know that already.

However, it helps make your case when an organization like Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems (IAIS) conducts a survey that backs up what you've already known. The report on the findings of the survey showed a number of opportunities...  Read about them here...

IBM To Improve Big Data With Pulses Of Light

The trending news in the industry is that light pulses will now be used to transmit information. Thanks to IBM's latest technological breakthrough, certain limitations with big data might be a thing of the past. Currently, information transmission is via electrical signals. This breakthrough changes all that.

The benefits of this breakthrough are many. Top among them are the movement of big data at the speed of light. Using a traffic analogy, if data sent via electrical signals are the equivalent of a tiny track, pulses of light on a chip are the equivalent of a super highway.

What does this mean for large volumes of data? It means we are about to say goodbye to congested data traffic. In addition, this will also cut down the high costs usually associated with traditional interconnects. To the business owner, it means that insights can be gleaned much faster than possible at the moment all at a cost that is far lower than it takes today.  Read more on this here...

The Big Data Revolution -- Utilities Make Considerable Progress

Utilities have to cope with a flood of data due to the implementation of smart meters and the overall digitization of their operations. Mozhi Habibi (Leader of IBM’s energy and utility solutions strategy worldwide) calls attention to the challenges faced by utilities and progress made. First the challenges…

To give a fair idea of the challenges posed by a highly digitized grid, he draws a comparison between analog meter reading and what’s obtainable with smart meters: In time past, meter reading was just once every month to show the amount of energy consumed by a customer. However, smart meters can send data every fifteen minutes. This translates to about 35,000 readings or updates per year. Multiply this by the number of meters sending data to a central information pool and you’ll appreciate the sheer volume they now have to deal with.

But with the right adjustments (which has been going on silently in the background), these utilities have been able to improve their business by taking advantage of big data. Read about some of the strides mentioned in the article here...

Big Data Means More Business Opportunities

At a time when many are unemployed, isn't it good news to actually learn that something's going to increase business opportunities (This will definitely translate to more job opportunities)?

It's a fact that new phenomena like Big Data have a disruptive effect on existing businesses even as they go a long way to create new ones. But most of the expectations on Big Data will depend on a number of other aspects of technology meeting up to minimum requirements...

Storage has to be cheaper, processing speed has to be a lot faster to cope with the huge volume of data, there is need for better software and more diversity in data sets. Well, the truth is that the future we so look forward to is now upon us. Consider the following facts.  Read them here...

Big Data To Translate To Big Sales In 2013

A group of experts have made predictions that point to the fact that Big Data will translate to big sales this year. According to Shashi Upadhyay, the CEO of Lattice Engines, Big Data's next frontier is sales and marketing. He sees the massive volume of data available to businesses today as an opportunity to make big sales based on insights gleaned from huge data analysis. Here's a summary of what was predicted:

1. Businesses will go beyond leveraging internal data to improve their sales and marketing. They will incorporate external data that will help them reach better conclusions on the best prospects and customers to target.

2. More professionals in sales and marketing will come to rely on insights gained from Big Data analysis. Many will start out small but spread the practice across board as their confidence in the process (machine-driven predictions) increases.

Find out the other predictions here...

Big Data: Transforming Our Lives In Many Ways

The volume of data we now create in two days is equal to data created from the dawn of civilization to 2003. That is, if we are to believe that Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, knows what he is saying. But whether or NOT everyone believes the amount of data created now is in that order, we cannot argue with the fact that we have been hit by Big Data and are experiencing transformations in magnitudes that have never been experienced in history.

Chuck Raasch of USA Today draws our attention to the many ways our lives are being transformed. He also calls attention to challenges and concerns that come with the transformations we are witnessing.

On the positive side, we have Big Data to thank for when we look at a number of scientific breakthroughs that couldn't have been possible without this phenomenon. Businesses are having an easier job giving you exactly what you want. You can easily find answers to questions (be it a trivia question or locating a particular type of restaurant in a new city).

A tiny stall in a third world country has access to more information than the US presidents of just two decades ago.

Sports have been affected dramatically, thanks to Big Data. People don't really have to guess who their most valuable baseball player is. Big Data analysis can now show (a graph of) the "speed, location, trajectory and movement of every single pitch he has thrown in the major leagues." If this isn't amazing, I don't know what is.

Our lives are powered by Big Data in many ways we don't even bother to think of again.

But there are concerns as well. Read about the concerns here...

Steps To Help You Define Your Big Data Strategy

Big Data doesn't really change core data strategy principles. This is a paraphrase of the opening thoughts in an article (by Debbie Oates of TheDrum) that shows how to define your Big Data strategy. She draws attention to certain steps including...

1. Making sure you determine what goals you want to achieve and how they meet your business objectives

According to her, many organizations don't give this step the attention that it deserves. They usually have a preference for going straight "into the details" without making up their minds on exactly what they want to achieve. This is a critical step as it will serve as a reference down the road to determine what should be or NOT be part of the project.

2. Reviewing what your business needs to achieve set goals

It is one thing to agree on what you want to achieve. It's another thing to understand what you have to do to achieve it. You may need to change your processes but you can only do so if you know what has to change.

Read the other important steps here...

Big Data — Effects On Hiring Plus Privacy Issues

Frank Konkel, a reporter for FCW, draws attention to the fact that government agencies (and every serious business out there) might have no option but to reconsider their standards and priorities for human resource acquisition. The truth upon us all is that Big Data is something no one can actually brush

Therefore, it makes sense that every serious organization focuses on hiring employees that have some levels of expertise in Big Data. On the other hand, they might have to invest in training their existing employees who are willing to acquire such skills.

However, the question of privacy was also raised: If government agencies and many more companies are going to take a full plunge into Big Data, shouldn’t people be concerned about their privacy? Even with many companies already tapping into this realm with new technologies, isn’t there a need for tighter legislation to keep things safe?

While many believe that it is time to start talking about regulations that take care of Big Data, there is a feeling that it is still in such an early stage that going heavy-handed on legislation might NOT be the best route.

While the benefits of Big Data cannot be played down, the chances of abuses are huge. It is a fact that some organizations might create a business out of selling Big Data any how they deem fit. This is generally more of a concern to the older generation, though. The younger generation doesn’t seem to have many issues with having details about them shared more freely.

Should there be specific laws and regulations to guide Big Data? Yes, there should. But how soon should they be put in place? How far should they go? That depends on who you ask. The truth that was pointed out (that policy makers should bear in mind) is that Big Data will soon become as “main stream” as ecommerce within a few years’ time — It’s definitely NOT something that is going away soon.

Read my original post here...

You — The Source Of Big Data

Can you imagine what would become of Facebook if all its users decide NOT to add new content or take any actions on their site for a while? What about Google: Would it survive if people refuse to use its search engine?

These represent two of the biggest organizations that are in the forefront of Big Data implementation. The truth is that they are probably a decade or so ahead of other “innovative” companies. But look at their business models: They depend on their users to generate content and activities that help their algorithms rank better sites higher (in the case of Google’s search engine) or attract and maintain a large audience (in the case of Facebook) in order to sustain their various businesses.

So in essence, Big Data is the result of our activities. If no one uses Google’s search they won’t be able to give you better search results. In fact, they wouldn’t even have content to rank in the first place if you don’t create web pages. This means that they wouldn’t be what they are without us. If in doubt, check the stories of AOL and other entities which used to be choice destinations online just a few years back.

They know this and that is why they’ll do everything to keep us happy. They know that they can’t compel us to create content. They must make us want to do it. That is why it is such an open field. Newcomers are getting a piece of the pie as they provide us another avenue (or venue) for our content. Think Pinterest, for example, and you’ll get the idea.

Read the original post here…