Big data solutions help businesses take their business to new levels. The corporations that are able to drive out the important information from their big data are the ones using the big data tools and the platform greatly. Such businesses are flourishing as well. And this is what has caused more and more companies towards working using the big data platform. The big data solutions help them overcome their competitors in the market as it helps them deliver better products or services. But to understand the impact of big data lets first understand what is big data? What are its type, etc.?

Data is something on which a computer executes operations. This data can be in the form of quantities, symbols and/or characters. This data can be stored and as well as sent in the form of electric signs. And big data is nothing but a very large amount of data. Big data is something that is already enormous in size and is yet expanding greatly as well. The traditional tools are not able to handle and operate such huge size data.

Some examples of big data include the Stock Exchange of New York. It is known that it produces almost one terabyte data every single day. And the data of social media is another great example such as facebook that generates more than 500 terabytes of data every day.

Types

Big data can be of the following three types:

1. Structured

Structured data name is given to such types of data that are stored, processed and obtained under a fixed format. As time has passed, advancements in the field of computer science have taken place exponentially due to which it is now able to work with big data in a much better way than before. And also we are able to draw out more value from this data. But as we are improving the amount of data is also increasing and it is now in zettabytes. Examples of structured data can be an employee table.

2. Unstructured

Just as the name suggests, the type of data that does not have any known form or does not have a particular structure is known as the unstructured data. And this type of data apart from being massive in the size is very hard to work on and hence makes it quite impossible to draw value out of it. This is one of the big problems, people nowadays have this large amount of data but that is in unstructured form and they also don’t know how to extract value out of it. One example of this type of data can be the result that we get from Google search or the data that can be stored with cloud computing services.

3. Semi-Structured

This type of data consists of both the types of data mentioned above, the structured and the unstructured type. This can be structured but it is not defined. An example of this type of data can be an XML file.

Characteristics

Big data is popularly known as the three V’s and hence is characterized by the same. Let’s go through them one by one:

1. Volume

All throughout we have been stating that it has a large amount of data so how can this not be a characteristic of this. The volume of the data decides whether or not it is can be termed as big data.

2. Variety

This refers to the different types of data incorporated in this. Earlier there used to be data in the form spreadsheets and databases only but this is not the case anymore. Emails, PDF’s, videos, etc. This is all that contributes to the variety characteristic of the big data.

3. Velocity

The velocity refers to the speed with which data flows in or gathers from various sources such as social media, business processes, etc. And also how this data is processed to get the desired outcome.

How is it Beneficial?

The amount of data that a company has is of no use unless it utilizes it to its best. Different companies have different ways of doing this and the one with the most efficient way prospers. Working with Big data can have the following benefits:

1. Saves Cost

The big data cloud solutions that are used to operate and store big data are proven to be financially beneficial to the businesses.

2. Saves time

The speed of the tools used for big data is quite fast and they are also able to identify where the new data can be collected from. This helps the firm make decisions timely and accurately.

3. Innovation in the market

By having and analyzing data of consumers that tell about the trends and needs of the people can help companies make new products to meet the new demands of the public.

4. Know the market well

Knowing the market means understanding the condition going on in the market, the behavior of the consumer and its purchasing power. This helps the manufacturers to know what to produce.

5. Holdover reputation

Online presence is a must in today’s time and that too a well-reputed one. The big data cloud solutions can be of great help in this, through this you can get the feedback and improve the working accordingly.

In this article, we saw how big data can work towards your business growth. It can work well with the cloud integration services as well, which makes the process much efficient.

Author's Bio: 

Amit Agrawal Founder and COO at Cyber Infrastructure (P) Limited which is an custom software development company provides services such as custom application development, mobile application development, creative web design, Microsoft solutions, SAP solutions, open source development, Java development, Oracle development, big data solutions, digital experience solutions, CAD/CAM architectural services, testing automation, infrastructure automation and cloud, digital marketing, ITeS, etc.