Think Big Data is only something for big panies?Think again.Small anizations in particular can benefit from this phenomenon,as well.Just as their larger unterparts chew through petabytes of information,small businesses and midsize panies can learn much from their own terabytes.

The pressure faced by IT departments and the business side of operations,is strikingly similar for firms both large and small.Acrding to a study by Aberdeen,more than half of all panies are not gaining aess to important information quickly enough,with 45percent citing data format difficulties as the reason they fail to leverage their information.

Growing quantities of data

The sheer volume of data at hand is hardly helping,of urse.Of the anizations surveyed,35percent also bemoaned the fact that their information is simply growing at too rapid a pace.IT infrastructures are falling behind,and without the means to process it,data is being useless.No wonder,if you take a look at the statistics:The data llected by the panies in the survey increases by some 40percent every year –and not just for the big players.In any case,81percent of firms with more than U.S.$1billion in annual revenues have more than five terabytes of information –nsidered the magic number for Big Data by the analysts at Aberdeen.Meanwhile,more than half (56percent)of small businesses and midsize panies have also crossed this minimum threshold.Even when one observes smaller businesses with less than U.S.$50million in annual revenues,just under a third (29percent)still qualify as dealing with Big Data.

Tackling problems instead of business as usual

This is no reason to bury one’s head in the sand,however:Taking on the challenges involved in long analysis times,rapid data growth,and information silos is a worthwhile endeavor.“The way in which a Big Data program pays off most lies in how it enables you to quickly answer questions about internal business processes,partners,products,and customers,”explains Nathaniel Rowe,research analyst at the Aberdeen Group.

In other words,untold treasures often lie buried within these many petabytes of data.The Aberdeen report also explains why unearthing them is worth the effort:panies that have implemented a Big Data program have gone on to increase their earnings by 12percent the following year.Their customer bases also grew by an average of 14percent over the same period.

Truly impressive,however,are the statistics produced through direct parison.To cite just one,panies with Big Data programs perform 26percent better than petitors that have not sought answers to the challenges they face.It seems that those who opt for “business as usual”are passing up nsiderable growth potential.“Big Data provides answers to questions we never thought we would need to ask or be able to address,”says Rowe.

Information,the sooner the better

To see how profound the effect of such investments can be,one need look no further than in-memory solutions.Of the panies surveyed,51percent lamented receiving information too late;47percent –including firms of varying size –typically need their data in the space of an hour,after which it bees more or less worthless.Finally,35percent went as far as to say that they basically need information in real time.

This is where in-memory technology es in.panies that take advantage of this innovation feed three and a half times more data into their analyses on average and receive the rresponding results 107times faster.That means in 42sends instead of 75minutes,for example.In other words,in-memory solutions deliver precisely what more than one out of every two panies needs:higher-quality insights at much greater speed.

Again,this applies to anizations both large and small,as Aberdeen analyst Rowe affirms:“In light of the growing data volumes we’re seeing,it’s ultimately less a question of if and much more of when small panies will have to face these challenges.”

中文新闻：大数据“特供”大玩家？