What's the Big Deal About Big Data?

While the term big data evolved in 1990s, business organizations have been using analytics in order to gain insights and locate trends even in the 1950s. The analytics related to big data can analyse large amounts of data in a very efficient and speedy manner. It is used towards finding a correlation, bringing to fore the hidden patterns and many other purposes.

Big Data Analytics provides multiple benefits. The results of the analysis are in the form of patterns, trends, and reports that provide for better customer satisfaction, cost-cutting, smoother and more efficient operations, an increase in revenue/sales/profits, and/or also help a business to reach to better and smarter strategic business decisions as well. For instance, the popular computing model for big data, Hadoop, provides in-memory analysis and is used towards better business decision making. Hadoop can also store quite a large amount of data and hence is cost effective. Big Data analysis also helps towards finding the customer preferences better, and contributes towards innovation and greater customer satisfaction.

A business is required to make agile and fast decisions in order to stay competitive in the global business environment. Here are some uses of big data and its analysis for business organizations in different industrial/ business segments.

Travel/Hospitality

The short time of interaction that happens between the travel and hospitality businesses and their clients/customers is inadequate when a business wants to draw some conclusions and know more about the customer preferences. Big data analysis provides for the collection of all relevant customer data and its analysis and reveals the problems and deficiencies associated.

Healthcare

Integrated health care services today generate lots of data that relates to patient records. Insurance, health plans, and others. These records are generated on a day-to-day basis in large proportions. Apart from generating profits, the use of big data analysis can also be life-saving in certain conditions.

Retail

The personalization of retail services can be attributed to big data analysis as well. The retailers today know what exactly their customer needs are at the right time. A huge amount of data is generated through online and offline sales, loyalty programs, discount and seasonal sales, buying habits and there are also clues for the retailers from the social media. Retailers can pitch the right products at the right time and can also forecast the trends with the help of big data.

Key technologies associated with big data

Here is a brief description of the Big Data technologies and their use.

• Data management and mining
• Use of specialized software frameworks like Hadoop towards storing and processing of data, 
• In-memory analysis
• Predictive Analytics (using techniques like machine learning, and tools for forecasting including statistical algorithms) and towards forecasting/risk prevention/fraud detection/marketing/operations etc. 
• Text mining can comb the documents including blogs, emails, social media feeds and other online content and help you notice trends that were not evident before.

The popular certifications and courses in Big Data

There are multiple big data certifications available today that can easily take your career to the next level. Some of the most popular ones for big data training include: 

• MCSC or Microsoft Certified Solution Experts: Data management and Analytics 
• Cloudera Certification including the CCA or Cloudera Certified Associate- Spark and Hadoop Developer Certification
• SAS Big Data certification
• Oracle Business Intelligence Foundation Suite

One can enrol for the Big Data certification exam and course online itself. The online availability of education services helps you learn the course from anywhere you like. The online programs include instructor-led training, practice tests and hands-on experience and training in real world/life projects. All other kinds of resources including webinars and learning material are also provided to the big data students.

Also Read :- Hadoop Developer Certification – Stand Tall in The IT World