by Angela Guess
Jeff Bertolucci of Information Week recently put together a slideshow of ten facts about Big Data that you may find surprising. Bertolucci writes, “The irony of big data is that despite its potential to enhance the human experience, it’s often difficult to collect, filter, analyze, and interpret to gain those cherished insights. This slideshow examines the challenges and capabilities of big data. The facts and figures may surprise you. What to expect? Well, the future appears bright for Hadoop, the leading big data platform. And data scientists and related big data gurus should be gainfully (and lucratively) employed for years to come.”
The first fact has to do with ignored data: “Most companies estimate they’re analyzing a mere 12% of the data they have, according to a recent study by Forrester Research. Is this good or bad? Well, these firms might be missing out on data-driven insights hidden inside the 88% of data they’re ignoring. Or perhaps they’re wisely avoiding a resource-gobbling, boil-the-ocean strategy. A lack of analytics tools and ‘repressive’ data silos are two reasons companies ignore a vast majority of their own data, says Forrester, as well as the simple fact that often it’s hard to know which information is valuable and which is best left ignored.”