The irony of real-time analytics and why data needs refinement
Raw data is messy, unorganized and disparate. As with any raw material, however, data can be refined. Once fit for commerce, data can build models, answer questions and write code in real-time. The irony is that this gate-checking process of determining which data can contribute to analytics is itself an act of analysis.
During today’s Micron Summit in New York, this topic and more were analyzed during the event keynote address. According to Darren Thomas, vice president of the Storage Business Unit at Micron Technology Inc., the message surrounding big data is about insights, including driving useful analytics output from the staggering amounts of data that are expected in the coming years.
“We’ve got to go from raw data to insightful real-time analytics,” Thomas said. “The data is too great for you to wait while the search is going on.” In order for data to be valuable, it has to be analyzed, and since these are real-time data creations being processed, the ideal is for them to be analyzed in real-time, he added.
With 163 zettabytes (or 163 trillion gigabytes) of collective data predicted by 2025, and approximately 75 percent of the world’s population set to be connected to the global information network by that time, the value of data will largely be determined by the ends to which it’s put, according to Thomas. But for meaningful usage, there will first need to be architectures in place that can scale and ingest such quantities as a matter of regular practice.
In addition, data operatives, or any company that wants to draw on that asset, will need to understand the nature and context of their data sources, Thomas explained. As mobile phones and advanced CPUs allow people to develop content at higher rates, machines are now creating content as well, with Internet of Things devices allowing connectivity from refrigerators, security cameras, cars and other objects traditionally thought of as relatively simple appliances.
Thomas then gave the stage to Laura DuBois, vice president of enterprise storage, server and system infrastructure software at International Data Corp., for her address focusing on “Uncovering Insight Through Research,” with an emphasis on the impact data is having on traditional infrastructure.
“It’s increasingly a focus on data that makes the difference between a company that’s surviving and a company that’s going to thrive and outperform its competitors,” DuBois said. She highlighted the connected nature of popular businesses, such as Starbucks, the “New York Times” and Pandora, and the way in which their assessment of customer retention, interaction and acquisition data is pushing their data analytics investments forward.
Digital transformation and business and data growth are having a driving effect on strategies, DuBois said. “There’s never been a lack of data, and there never will be,” she said. But for practically all companies taking part in data ops advancement, the biggest challenges will be in meeting performance needs, ensuring data protection and handling data governance, she added.
