The world of IT seems to have come out of an obsession with miniaturisation and into an enthusiasm for all things big and beautiful.
Now that technology has come to a point where pocket-friendly smartphones have a functionality way above and beyond the supersize supercomputers of yesteryear, those involved in IT are thinking big about how they can put that processing power to work. The concept of Big Data is capturing a lot of interest in boardrooms around the world, but in many ways, it's a bit like the Large Hadron Collider.
Everyone talks about it
If Google is a bellwether for trending topics then there can be no doubt that Big Data is a key industry buzzword. Like much of modern IT, however, it's arguably a long-established concept, the use of which has been enhanced by technology. There may be dispute about who first coined the Data>Information>Knowledge>Wisdom hierarchy, but references to similar ideas date back at least to the 1950s and it's fair to say that insurance companies (that is to say underwriters) have spent decades (and millions) developing the concept for their business.
Nobody really knows what it does
The technology exists to collect and mine data on an extraordinary scale. Companies who wish to do so can pull in feeds from a huge and diverse range of sources and process it at speeds which are almost beyond imagining for the average human. The problem, however, is that while simply processing vast quantities of data can indeed provide vast quantities of information, it does not necessarily produce vast quantities of relevant information. Therefore the human input which turns information into knowledge and wisdom requires much the same degree of effort as it would if it had just been presented with the data in the first place.
Even for companies that have grasped the importance of effective data mining, there is still the hurdle of translating the knowledge and wisdom gained into concrete operational change. People do not necessarily take kindly to established practices being changed based on “what a computer says” and staff resistance can derail the best of intentions.
Everyone thinks everyone else understands it
In many ways, using Big Data effectively requires far more in the way of business and leadership skills than it does IT skills. With all respect to IT professionals, who can contribute hugely to the success of an organisation, IT is typically an enabler of business strategy rather than a driver of it.
Even when companies make IT their business, they are usually empowering other companies to run their core business better. In short, the effective use of Big Data does not mean throwing cash at a powerful data centre, it means having the strategic skills to understand which questions are important to the long-term success of a company, along with the practical skills to make the necessary changes to business focus and working practices and the leadership skills to ensure that all staff stay on board with the changes, rather than feeling resentful of them.
Most people make out they understand it
There are probably a number of companies which genuinely believe that they are doing Big Data, when in point of fact they are simply mistaking effort for effect. One of the oldest IT clichés in the world is “Garbage In Garbage Out”, in other words, unless companies are working with clean data and asking the right questions, trying to use Big Data will be, at best, a waste of time, effort and money. At worst, it could actually lead the business astray with misleading results.
In short, all the Big Data in the world can not make up for a decent dose of human intelligence and common sense.
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