Online-only businesses are often ahead of the pack when it comes to big data integration. As so much of these companies' information originates in a digital form, it is comparatively easy to gather and store it for analysis. Inspecting such firms' management programs could give hints about best practices for the future.
According to Smart Data Collective contributor Venkata Bodapati, a recent talk by LinkedIn's Simon Zhang gave an inside look at the company's information ecosystem as it works to manage big data. The complex inner workings are split into eight distinct processes.
Bodapati noted that one of the company's eight focus areas is
data quality and management, ensuring that information stays consistent from one department to another. This is significant, as some have suggested companies can safely do away with classic data quality metrics as volume grows. LinkedIn's continued embrace of careful management shows such talk may be premature.
Working with big data is an important role within companies and is only growing more vital. Gartner recently projected that the demand for skilled IT workers will create 4.4 million job openings, with even more new positions in non-tech fields. High-volume data will affect nearly every type of business, not simply those already using it.