Companies need to take simple approach toward big data plans

Big data may seem like the latest and greatest business strategy, but as Bill Franks, chief technology analytics officer for Teradata's global alliance program, explains in a recent post for Smart Data Collective, it's actually an approach that many companies have taken in the past.

As an example, Franks points out that businesses first started using customer analytics to compile contact lists and integrate demographic data. When companies first gained this ability, Franks says they did not flood their systems with millions of pieces of customer data. Rather, they started small, applying the additional content and testing it to find out which approaches produced the greatest returns.

Nowadays, many companies are racing to invest, fueled by worries about falling behind their competitors. In reality, a poorly implemented big data plan can land a business in an even worse situation with poor data quality, flawed insights and wasted investments.

A recent Formtek Blog notes that while businesses are interested in benefiting from big data, many are not yet certain how to apply it, or which problems it can solve. The source highlights a recent Treasure Data study that found while one-quarter of companies have seen the value in big data and are actively working on related projects, nearly the same amount are not sure how it can be applied in their firms.