Big Data is a Big Trend in Business

By: Chance Garrity, General Manager, North Central District, Microsoft Corp.

Microsoft works with many local companies on solutions to complex business challenges. As a local business ourselves in Edina, we know the community, we understand the challenges and we know how technology can positively impact your business. 

If you run a business that views technology as a strategic asset, chances are you’ve already heard about a growing trend, Big Data.  Much more than a passing fad, Big Data helps businesses turn massive amounts of data into actionable business insights.  These insights offer a real competitive advantage to businesses of all sizes. 

Before you can take action and harness the power of Big Data, it’s important to define it.  Simply put, Big Data leverages serious computing power to convert massive amounts of data into usable business insights.  It lives in the servers, storage devices and hard drives of businesses. This prime real estate lets Big Data tap into critical business information to deliver big insights to the business. 

Big Data is also characterized by the “three Vs”: volume, variety and velocity.  The volume of Big Data lies in the massive amounts of information companies accumulate in communicating with business units, customers, employees, social networks and innumerable other sources. Variety is represented by the different files and formats housing the data. This includes everything from structured data in spreadsheets to unstructured data such as photos, videos and tweets. Finally, velocity is the speed of the information being produced. And in an era when companies want real-time information, Big Data represents tremendous opportunity to unlock immediate insights about customers, trends and potential challenges.

And Big Data isn’t going anywhere.  Industry analyst firm IDC reports that the rate of data collection is increasing 10 times every five years as businesses log data from Internet interactions, mobile GPS, and sensor networks.  This growth is an opportunity for Twin Cities businesses. 

While some Twin Cities businesses are jumping right in to Big Data, others are taking small steps by analyzing information available across social media channels as a way to understand customer engagement and relationship management.  Social networks like Twitter and Facebook generate thousands of insights that can provide businesses with a better idea of customer activity, buying patterns and sentiment. Using these insights, many local businesses are improving areas like marketing, sales, strategy and supply chain management.

While the buzz may still be building around Big Data, the results are already transforming business practices and outcomes.

It’s important your business is informed around Big Data, and you can learn more about it here.  Also, to learn more about Microsoft’s Technology Center in Edina, please visit here.