Big Data holds potential, requires hard work

A recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project points out that there are now massive amounts of data in circulation, and the rate at which it's being generated means it will continue to grow. For marketers, this information holds valuable insight about customers' buying preferences. In the healthcare industry, it means greater access to patient data that could yield medical correlations as well as increased efficiency.

Many organizations are already jumping into the pool of Big Data to tap into this exciting potential. National Football League (NFL) teams and 2012 Olympics teams are two groups dipping their toes into the water to see how collecting data on vital signs, calorie intakes and waste analysis can help provide insight into players' performance, according to SmartData Collective.

The organizations begin to analyze this information by first monitoring it and inputting it into a system. However, all of this potential can be compromised if they don't use the proper tools to verify data or put in the necessary work to ensure there aren't errors, reports ZDNet.

"Poor data quality affects operational efficiency, risk mitigation and agility by compromising the decisions made in each of these areas [and] leads to business initiatives failing to achieve the stated objectives and benefits," Arun Chandrasekaran, a research director for Gartner, told the source.