What is big data anyway?  It is the flood of information that is available today.   Did you know that every day, 2.5 billion gigabytes of data are created in a variety of forms, such as social 
media posts, information gathered in sensors 
and medical devices, videos and transaction records?  Why .. that’s Big!

Why is Big Data important? Being able to capitalize of that data gives you better insight and makes you more competitive.

big data info

IBM’s Institute of Business Value just published a study on the 9 Levers of Differentiation for Big Data.   The research makes it clear there are specific activities that can help organizations accelerate value creation and simplify analytics implementation.

Those 9 levers are:

1. Know the Source of Value.   Focus on actions and decisions that generate value.  Organizations realizing value from analytics solutions are those that can readily measure their impact.

2. Culture.  Those cultures that support the availability and use of data and analytics see higher value from analytics and data.

3. Executive Support and involvement.  Infusing the use of analytics into an organization’s culture typically requires advocacy and action from the most senior levels of
the organization.

4. Measurements.  Evaluating impact on business outcomes.  

5. Trusted data and data management practices.  Decision makers must have confidence in the data before they will use it to guide their actions.

6. Disicplined approach.  Leaders use a financial rigor in analytics funding process.

7. A great software platform.  You need integrated capabilities delivered by software tools to take advantage of big data.

8. Organizational confidence in the data and the skills.

9. Focus on Skills. Development and access to skills and capabilities.   There is a huge analytics skills gap.  Those leaders focus on training a great team.

Download the full report:   www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/thoughtleadership/ninelevers/