Sensors offer big data users an operational analytics edge

To help provide the view, it’s installing sensors to continually report on pressure, flow and other metrics — part of a big data and operational analytics initiative that NIPSCO is investing heavily in. Collecting, storing and analyzing data from industrial sensors, network logs and other machinery connected to the so-called Internet of Things has become more feasible because of the emergence of big data technologies, and an increasing number of organizations are joining marquee users such as General Electric in looking to take advantage of the available data. In a 2013 survey conducted by Enterprise Management Associates Inc. and 9sight Consulting, 38% of the nearly 600 big data projects being pursued by the 259 respondents involved machine-generated data, up from 24% in a similar survey a year earlier.