Big data analytics is a unification of hidden patterns, market trends, and other useful business information. Data sources may include websites, social platforms or business applications. Additionally, they can also be app servers, sensors, open source data stores or hypervisors. Big data solutions are some of the most valuable, trending ways to analyze large data amounts. This information may contain definitive records of transactions, sensor readings, as well as fraudulent activity. Analytic findings supply reliable information that may boost marketing and take advantage of new revenue opportunities. It can instantly have a competitive edge over your business rivals and improve operation efficiency.
Importance of Big Data Analytics
The primary objective is to provide accurate information that will enable companies to make decisions that are more informed. Big data analytics are only possible by allowing analytics professionals, data scientists, and predictive modelers to analyze vast volumes of business transaction data untapped by conventional business intelligence programs. Big data analytics offers many benefits. It can handle a large amount of data from a wide range of sources at a very fast speed. Indeed, it gives businesses the opportunity to analyze information almost immediately and make informed decisions based on what they have learned.
It is hard to store semi-structured or unstructured data in traditional warehouses based on relational databases. Moreover, conventional data warehouses cannot handle the processing needs posed by a large data amounts. This may require continuous, frequent updates. For example, processing demand necessary to update real-time data obtained from mobile apps performance or gas and oil pipelines can be too high for a traditional warehouse. For that reason, organizations looking for a way to collect, prepare, process and analyze big data must adopt big data analytics technologies such as Hadoop, MapReduce, YARN, Hive, Spark, Pig and NoSQL databases. These open source tools support processing massive, diverse data sets across clustered systems.
Example of Big Data Analytics
Many advanced big data analytic tools are now available in the market. Some are open source software you can download and use while others are available for a fee. Examples of data analytic tools include Hadoop Cluster, NoSql, and Hadoop Data Lake. Hadoop Clusters and NoSQL are landing, data staging areas used before being loading a data warehouse for analysis. The output of the analysis summarizes in a way that fits the relational structures. Modern vendors adopt the concepts of Hadoop Data Lake, which serves as a central repository for organizing future streams of data.
Subsets of data are filtered in these models before being analyzed in an analytic data warehouse or directly with Hadoop. Using batch query software, stream processing software, and SQL on Hadoop lets analyzers run ad hoc queries developed with SQL. Advanced analytic tools such as predictive analytics, text analytics, data mining, statistical analysis, and data mining all analyze big data. Other analysis instruments such as data visualization and Mainstream BI software tools can analyze big data as well.
Challenges Associated with Big Data Analytics Tools
The main difficulties facing organizations wishing to adopt big data analytics include lack of internal skilled labor and high cost of hiring experienced analytics professionals from outside the organization. Handling large amounts of information can be a headache when it comes to management as it can bring consistency and data quality issues. Moreover, integrating a Hadoop system with a data warehouse can be challenging. However, current vendors offer connector software and integration tools that help to link between relational databases and Hadoop.
Some of the current big data solutions and analytic tools such as IBM SPSS Predictive Analytic Tools and KNIME include advanced features and can be the best option for small enterprises. They feature commercial extensions for big data, collaboration, and cluster operations. Two products designed for exactly this type of statistical analysis are Resolution R Enterprise and Resolution R Open. Other big Data analytic tools such as Teradata Aster Discovery Platform include some advanced and crucial features such as Aster database and version of R that make ease data analysis.
