Every day, data analysis is becoming more relevant in companies, but paradoxically, companies often do not really know the data they need, and, furthermore, they do not know how to approach it.
What is clear is that it requires a significant financial effort from companies due to the need for training, analysis, and the computing and storage resources required to have relevant information that adds value at all times.
Several years ago, large companies like AWS, IBM, Microsoft, and others were already aware of the importance that data would have in the future. They began to provide us with certain tools and applications, with the idea of making companies competitive in a simpler way and with less investment.
Through what is known as Cloud Computing, companies in the sector started offering services and tools based on the needs required at any given moment, without the need for significant investments... In this way, companies and organizations began to have more shared resources without extensive infrastructure, thus improving their profits (clients even had the option of pay-as-you-go according to their specific moments and needs).
While the cloud continues to gain strength, social networks are being incorporated, and the volume of IoT devices entering the market is gradually increasing. More and more households and mobile devices are connecting to the internet. The volume of data is growing continually, and it seems unstoppable.
The major technology companies were already aware that the future's key aspect was the comprehensive control of data processing and management.
They knew that a significant part of the business would revolve around the need for solutions and distributed files that distribute data and process it across various nodes to enable greater agility in calculations.
Moreover, equally important to their strategy was the need to have management systems that would allow making real-time processing resource adjustments as needed. .
These companies clearly see the need to move towards more efficient models. They are already working on one hand by incorporating algorithms that generate a greater volume of valuable information and, on the other hand, by creating interfaces that can present the information provided by the computing process in a more visual and understandable way, in real time. This enables the data to be made available for decision-making.
Through these computing services, companies are getting ready and can have fully integrated or modular services according to their storage, processing, analysis, and visualization needs.
To highlight the importance of data in the coming years, consider a simple example: each day, an unimaginable amount of data is being generated.
Google processes over 7 billion queries per day, it's estimated that there are approximately 4.66 billion social media users worldwide, and the number of devices (IoT sensors), according to experts, is estimated to reach 22 billion by 2025. .
With just this data, we can get an idea of the need for companies to organize the vast volume of data available, both within and outside their organizations.
The use of structured data, unstructured data, and semi-structured data is already essential for organizations to generate valuable information and use it in decision-making. The growth of NoSQL databases is becoming more significant each day and is starting to share space with traditional SQL databases.
Making decisions based solely on the opinion of an expert is no longer sufficient if it is not supported by data. This emphasizes the importance of Big Data and Business Intelligence.
Today, the products or services that companies sell are important, but I dare say that having Big Data for the sustainability of the company is equally or even more important.
It's well known that the success of companies relies on data:
Uber provides a large number of driver-owned vehicles for our mobility, but how many vehicles and drivers does it own worldwide?
Facebook doesn't create any of its own content, but its users and followers generate it. We all know it's the world's largest social network with over 2.5 billion users.
Airbnb focuses on accommodations but doesn't own a single bed. They have many—quite a lot, don't they?
Amazon, with its unique business model (understood as a massive marketplace), offers a vast array of products that aren't its own. It positions items in the market based on sophisticated algorithms, ensuring it's challenging for competitors to compete, making us more dependent on it.
These are just a few clear examples of the importance of data for companies and their benefits.
Significant sectors such as healthcare, public administrations, retail, and industry, which are accumulating more information every day, need to incorporate technology directly related to Big Data to advance in their management and understanding of user or customer needs.
Gradually, all sectors and companies, regardless of their size or position, will need Big Data or Business Intelligence analysis (depending on the volume of data they require) to drive their businesses, no matter the product or service they offer.
The pandemic has put a definitive end to the way things used to be. The cloud is becoming increasingly central, and we all depend on it to operate. Any information we seek, any process we need to perform, any purchase we plan to make, and so on, all now go through it.
The great showcase where we all stop to look leads us directly to Digital Transformation, which was occasionally disliked by some generations (since our brains weren't quite ready for it), but on the other hand, it is beloved by everyone when it solves numerous day-to-day problems with a simple click, without having to move.
Big Data is constantly introducing new ways to access and process information more easily and accessibly for companies. Concepts like the Open Data Platform are getting closer each day, seeking to standardize many processes, regardless of technologies, so that users can access collections of open data.
Work environments like Apache Hadoop, with open-source code and the capability to handle large volumes of distributed data, are gradually gaining more value within organizations.
In conclusion, the world of Big Data is becoming more understandable every day, and new professions and job positions are emerging, which are already highly necessary in our daily lives.
I believe it is important for companies to start recognizing the significance of Big Data and Business Intelligence in their businesses. They should understand what it means and the responsibilities of various profiles such as Data Steward, Data Miner, Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Hadoop Developer, Big Data Architect, Data Engineer, Data Artist, or Citizen Data Scientist. It's time for them to work on new models.
Gradually exploring the world of Big Data and integrating it into their strategy will make companies more competitive. Understanding the user is crucial for all of them.
In essence, users only want services, products, and information that genuinely interest them. We are slowly filtering out everything that generates aversion or simply doesn't interest us.
Companies are becoming aware of this and are striving to ensure that you only see what you like on your devices, what you want to hear, what you want to see—ultimately, what you want to consume.
Do you think Big Data can influence our minds and our perception of our surroundings? Are you familiar with business neuroscience? What will this near future bring? Are we prepared? Will manipulation become easier, or will we become more prepared to understand that we can be manipulated? Will we let ourselves be swayed?
Let it work for you
