Big Data: Size does matter but...

MUMBAI, INDIA: Another session on Big Data. Another round of euphoria about how big and beautiful all your hitherto-in-oblivion data can be?

Well, this one did reinforce the big hope about big data but sliced it into some not-so-small questions that have been long overdue.

So many hypotheses to test, so many data sets to mine but the real constant content is objective truth, is what Manoj Singh, chief operating officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd, tried to drive home today at Nasscom India Leadership Forum 2013 here.

Speaking at 'Transactional to Transformational: Co-relating business to hidden intelligence', Singh illustrated variety of examples - from an airline major to a mining operations firm and an e-commerce biggie, exemplifying how big data can make big sense in giving a new twist to the business. Example - How Netflix disrupted Block buster using intelligence for Big data. It did this by using pricing information, customer patterns, adjacent usage, minimization of shipping and packaging costs etc.

At the same time he reminded with much pathos that ' Big data is just data. Finding the intelligence is the key."

There is a lot of hype around this trend, as he also confessed. Organisations are trying to understand it. He also brought forth another overwhelming word as he pointed how 'big brother' concerns aka regulatory or security issues are going to matter too. India can improve its quality of data and can think of business aspects of harnessing it, he hastened to add.

Some advice to make Big Data really big also followed.

"Start with specific questions about business problems. Artistry comes from fine-tuning discipline with agility and technology should support this flexibility. Breach organization silos."

The most interesting tip perhaps was this one: Build your bench with left-brained data scientists and right-brained visualization teams together.

A big brain houses both after all.