Why Switch? Making the decision to switch from traditional relational databases to NoSQL will depend on a few factors. The rise of Big Data will certainly play a role for many businesses, but there are many other reasons as well. There are certain scenarios where NoSQL provides advantages that would be hard to get from RDBMS. Some NoSQL deployment examples include building applications for content management and managing user data, to name a few. Companies... Read More
The ancient Mayans are often recognised for their skills in accurately analysing planets and stars in the night sky with the most primitive of tools. Ancient tablets provide evidence of their understanding of astronomy, as well as their ability to accurately predict lunar and solar eclipses many decades ahead. Such examples of human endeavour are testament to our curious nature and inherent penchant for foresight. Interestingly, such practices bear parallels to what we now refer... Read More
The power of social media as a business tool is rapidly proving its worth, time and time again, despite a few lingering skeptics who would question its value. Furthermore, in the world of business intelligence (BI), social media tools offer myriad new resources for companies looking to gather information about their clients and develop a holistic viewpoint of each customer, which will ultimately help them improve products, service and the customers’ overall experience. Indeed, social... Read More
Why are so many organisations so terrified of data and refuse to see the benefits it can bring? ‘Big data’ is now a common term, but traditionally, the treatment of the flow of information within an organisation has been comparable to that of a piece of radioactive material. Not only has it been quarantined and isolated in the IT department, but access to it has typically been limited to only one individual – the data... Read More
No longer ring-fenced by the IT department, big data has well and truly become part of marketing’s remit. A deluge of data flowing from the ever-increasing number of offline and online media, coupled with rapid changes in consumer behaviour – the way people shop, work and relax – is making marketers’ job more difficult. But despite the complexity of big data, it offers huge opportunities for brands to drive value from their customer information. The... Read More
Big Data remains a key buzz word for 2013. However, with so many data assets out there ecommerce sites can struggle to digest the information and work out what’s relevant and useful to help them increase conversion rates. As a result, one area of Big Data that’s growing is personalisation. This involves analysing the vast quantities of data about how individuals are engaging with your website and then tailoring the site so that it reacts... Read More
Improving Public Health Depends on Connectivity Back in 2000, when some of us were still shedding vestiges of our Y2K paranoia, nobody would have imagined that in little more than a decade, doctors would be able to tailor a treatment based on a patient’s genotype. Yet here we are. The good news is that the next few decades will contain even more seemingly impossible health breakthroughs. That’s why it’s vital for everyone who has a... Read More
“Big data” was the buzzword of 2012 – the year was awash with information, comment and discussion about the topic. As we enter 2013, it’s time for the talking to make way for action. Despite the hype and column inches, however, many businesses do not know what first steps they should take so that they can manage and use big data efficiently to gain an information advantage. The explosion of big data over the past... Read More