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December - 2014 issue

Opportunities brought by Extreme Information Management

By CR Team

Big data is often thought of as just volume, or as volume, velocity, and variety, but other issues, like the fluctuation of data flows, are important, too. The focus on big data often diverts organizations from looking at their whole information infrastructure. There are three big opportunities that can come from Extreme Information Management: the addition of sentiment and network analysis from social software to existing marketing processes; the combination of operational technology monitoring and metrics with logistics and supply planning; and adherence to a high-fidelity data strategy that builds datasets, creating competitive advantages in operations.
However, there are also a few challenges. It costs three times more to store data than to get it, and although 70 to 85 percent is unstructured, most companies spend the majority of their analytics only on structured data. Basically, they are ignoring most of the information while spending a lot to save it. The variety of information assets is already crushing and the diversity of information is growing. With small applications and millions of meters and sensors, the amount of data being created from operational technology increases. Distributed processes are one method of dealing with that.
Although the term "big data" overemphasizes the issue of information volume, it does serve as a useful way to start a conversation about the multiple dimensions required of a modern information management strategy.