Getting a Handle on Big Data Doesn t Have to be a Big Headache

Transcription

1 50 Years of Growth, Innovation and Leadership Getting a Handle on Big Data Doesn t Have to be a Big Headache A Frost & Sullivan White Paper

2 Frost & Sullivan Big Data is a Big Problem... 3 Unstructured Information is a Boon and a Beast... 3 Three Steps you Must Take Right Now... 4 Easy Access is Really the Point... 5 Security and Compliance: Critical for Any Business... 5 Search: Trusting your Tags... 6 Call to Action... 7 CONTENTS

3 Getting a Handle on Big Data Doesn t Have to be a Big Headache Big Data is a Big Problem Ask any knowledge worker to define his biggest workplace pet peeve and, chances are good, you ll get the following response: too many messages via , text and chat; too many demands on his attention and time; and too much information to sort through and use in any meaningful way. All of us are increasingly buried under a mound of data that threatens to overwhelm our senses and sap our productivity. And it s impacting not just the time we spend at the office, but the time we spend away from our desks too. Employees may not know what to call this problem, but they know it exists and they are desperate for a solution that gives them access to the information they need, and only the information they need, anytime and from any device. Unstructured Information is a Boon and a Beast Employees may not know it, but IT feels their pain. One of the biggest concerns in IT today is Big Data the notion that the amount of data in any given organization is literally too big to be managed by today s networks and applications. The trend is not new; for as long as businesses have been collecting information, they have been struggling with how to catalogue, search and secure it. But the modern digital age has seen a remarkable increase in the amount of data companies produce and collect; indeed, conventional wisdom has it that at least 90 percent of the data in the world was created in the past few years. IT managers have been struggling with how to ensure that the reams of information employees create can be identified, tracked and used. Data management systems have long been a part of broader, data-intensive operations, including enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM). But today s Big Data problem is far more complex because it adds the issue of unstructured data all the text that flies across the Internet in s, instant messages, SMS, social networking sites and the like, as well as that which is captured in voice calls and conferences (an issue with Voice over IP, which by its very nature turns voice calls into, well, data). So not only is the amount of data growing exponentially, but the way in which it must be captured, categorized and managed is changing too. Furthermore, such information is increasingly subject to the same strict controls as other corporate data, making it critical that companies treat it with the same security and compliance policies and procedures as they do more traditional data stores and systems. To get a handle on it, companies must do more than just archive and store it; they must tag it appropriately, so that the information can be easily searched, protected and accessed as needed. Finally, the massive increase in data and the speed at which it is developed and used is putting enormous pressure on network managers to ensure their infrastructure can support the amount of information traveling across the network, at the necessary speed, and with the required access points. Some of this data is structured and not time-sensitive, but much of it is unstructured and delivered and consumed in real time, and then again asynchronously as needed. A flexible architecture is required to support this rapidly growing information trove. Frost.com 3

4 Frost & Sullivan The problem can seem overwhelming, but smart IT managers will focus on three critical elements of the Big Data problem: security and compliance; search; and usability. Three Steps You Must Take Right Now For many IT organizations, the newly difficult problem of Big Data can seem an impossible burden. Most organizations will need to start by ensuring that their networks and infrastructure are flexible and scalable enough to handle the influx of information. But as they layer on information from unstructured systems such as , chat, voice calls and social media, many managers don t know where to begin when it comes to identifying and securing so much content, not to mention making it available to their employees. And yet, one of the benefits of unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) technologies is the information they produce: the goal is to give employees ready access to the data that resides not just in corporate systems, but more importantly in people s heads. If you don t do that, you are missing out on an enormous opportunity, and indeed one of the biggest benefits of UC&C technology. According to a survey of 586 senior executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit and SAS, Wal-Mart feeds more than a million transactions into its databases every hour, reaching more than 2.5 petabytes; Facebook s users create an average of 90 pieces of content each month; and roughly 294 billion s are sent every day. 1 There are three key areas to focus on when it comes to managing Big Data, regardless of whether the information is structured or unstructured: security and compliance; search; and access. Companies must give users ready access to the information so that they can leverage it to improve their own productivity and positively impact business performance. They must ensure they are meeting all industry, government and corporate policies for securing their information, and make sure it meets any regulatory requirements. And they must make it easy to search the information and ensure that all relevant tags are identified. Big Data = Big Boost to Productivity Companies that get a handle on the data in their organizations can realize a competitive advantage by being able to see and react to trends more quickly. The benefits expand exponentially as the amount and type of data grows. With access to information about everything from brand identity and customer satisfaction, to supply-chain issues and competitive market stats, to who is working on what, when, and with what skills, companies can fine-tune everything from marketing and sales to production and productivity. And by tapping unstructured data, they can get new insights into old behaviors, tweaking policies and processes accordingly. For instance, by tracking social media hash tags, companies can get early warning signs on products and service levels that are failing or succeeding. Likewise, by monitoring chatter within the organization, managers and executives can identify common pain points as well as corporate best practices that work specifically for their business Frost.com

5 Getting a Handle on Big Data Doesn t Have to be a Big Headache Easy Access is Really the Point Most businesses rely on data to make decisions, track budgets, set strategy and so on. Structured data is particularly good for specific employees using specific systems. For instance, salespeople who use a CRM system to track leads and process orders, or production managers who rely on an SCM application to ensure their factories can manufacture goods as quickly and inexpensively as possible. But unstructured data the stuff that resides in office files, the bodies of s and texts, and employees own experience represents the company s vast knowledge store. Organizations that can figure out how to access and leverage that information will get a significant competitive advantage. The trick is getting that unstructured information into the hands of the people who need it most employees who are in the middle of a project and need to quickly reference the information, experience and skill sets they might not know exist or where to find them. By tagging and making available the information in other people s chat sessions, online profiles, status updates, presentations and documentation, a company can effectively leverage all its employees knowledge and expertise. This will drive collaboration and ensure that best practices are used across the organization. This is, of course, a significant shift from the status quo. Few managers today would even think of opening up what are typically considered private messages to the employee public. But doing so in a way that is manageable, easily searched and relevant to the business at hand is in keeping with the move toward openness that we are seeing in the world at large. Just as social media has made it increasingly acceptable for people to share and use information to a wide world of followers, visionary organizations are making unstructured information available to all their constituents. Security and Compliance: Critical for Any Business Just as it is critical that businesses maintain control of their structured data for legal and regulatory purposes, they must start to treat unstructured data in the same way. So, for instance, businesses must consider how they are archiving and storing not just the information located in ERP and CRM systems, but also in , IM, texts, voic s, social media (public and private) and conferencing applications and services (including voice, Web and video). Securing this information is especially critical for those in highly regulated or lawsuit-prone industries, but it is important for all organizations. This is one reason why Frost & Sullivan recommends that companies deploy enterprise-grade UC&C applications. Unlike consumer services, applications designed for business make it much easier for IT to, for instance, restrict who can use the technology, and in what capacity, as well as to track and secure the data produced within it. An enterprise IM system, for example, lets IT managers set rules around who can message whom so that they can create and maintain so-called Chinese Walls as needed. Such systems also archive and tag all the messages sent within them, making it easy to secure and then retrieve the data in the event of regulatory inquiries or legal discovery. Frost.com 5

6 Frost & Sullivan Increasingly, more advanced communications capabilities are being subject to the same rigor. Case in point, as more companies deploy Voice over IP, the information within those phone calls is increasingly considered data that must also meet all security and compliance requirements. Conferencing and social media applications, which produce virtual reams of information, will not be far behind. Search: Trusting Your Tags Unstructured data is as valuable as its structured counterpart to all organizations this is, after all, the information that resides in people s heads, and there is often no other way to get it. The need to capture and codify that information is also getting stronger as the employee population ages and more and more experienced workers leave the workplace (voluntarily or not). Companies must find a way to identify information expressed in the everyday course of business in s, chat messages, voice calls, conferences and social media posts and then leverage it for greater and broader use within the organization. The best way to make sure all that captured, unstructured data is useful is to make it searchable. But searching on data found in , voic , conferencing and social sites is much more difficult than doing so on the structured data found in traditional data stores. It requires not just good tagging and keywords, but also contextual information. Take an IM message exchange, for instance. In any given chat session, two colleagues may go from discussing the latest project details, to a related endeavor undertaken six months ago, to another colleague who may need to help with the final product, to what to have for lunch. The company will likely want to tag the discussions about the current project with as many relevant keywords as possible. It may opt to do the same for the older project, and for the other employee mentioned in the discussion, if that mention includes reference to his or her experience and skills. It certainly won t want or need to tag the discussion about lunch. Likewise, to generate good, useable search on the content in voice and conference calls and/or social media, contextualization is key. 6 Frost.com

7 Getting a Handle on Big Data Doesn t Have to be a Big Headache Call to Action Big Data is a problem that is only getting bigger as unified communications and collaboration technology allows users to create more information than ever before. Since this new data is unstructured, it is particularly difficult to get a handle on. But while it doesn t fit neatly into existing data stores, it may be the most valuable information the company has since it represents the knowledge and expertise of its employees. The challenge of Big Data can seem so overwhelming that many organizations simply pretend it doesn t exist. But leveraging the information that results from advanced UC&C tools like IM, voice and conferencing as well as social media can significantly improve a company s ability to drive employee collaboration, giving it a clear leg up on the competition. To take advantage of the opportunity the new Big Data problem presents, Frost & Sullivan recommends that IT managers focus on three key areas for success: making sure all new data meets all security and compliance requirements, ensuring that the data can be easily searched on multiple terms and providing that data to all employees who need it. This paper is produced by Frost & Sullivan on behalf of Allstream. Frost.com 7

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