According to a recent McKinsey research on the Internet of Things (IoT) in June last year, currently only 1% of data is actually used by the market, despite the fact that the web has decidedly removed the barriers that first existed between producers and customers-users, increasing the complexity of sources and diversified channels for procuring the data.
There is an exponential interest in the opportunities deriving from a better understanding of the use of data when it is synchronized with the users’ online and offline conduct. It is without a doubt that interest in this duality and data analysis refers to a new type of consumer conduct, who expect a closer, more relevant, faster and contextual engagement with the brands on various channels and in all the phases of the entire purchasing cycle. Some examples of recent technology are moving in this direction: the sensors with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) by Apple’s IBeacon, radiofrequency identification (RFID) for managing supplies and the video analysis in real time of consumer movements to discover the “busiest” areas and the flow. These are just some of the ways in which technology is being used to reach the consumer in an optimal manner.
But how ready are companies to face this complexity?
According to Romain Picard, Senior Director SEMEA – Fr & N. Africa, Iberia, Italy, Greece, Turkey & Middle East for Cloudera
“The companies are not at all ready to address the speed of change in this complexity, they are not able to transform the big data (this enormous pile of data) into useful information or in economic value to be spent on the market“.
By 2020, we will have over 30 billion connected devices or connected things (IoT) with an economic weight on the real market of more than 1.7 thousand billion dollars (for example only for the connected vehicles sector, the estimated annual growth is more than 20%). The maturity of the Internet of Things (IoT), represented by technology such as Amazon Dash and its Replenishment service, promises to fill the gap between physical and digital and to considerably extend the retailer’s “data perimeter. The birth of alternative payment systems, such as Apple Pay and PayPal, and new purchasing channels such as the “Buy” button on Twitter and virtual Tesco shops, all create additional paths for engaging with the consumer. Within four years, we will be dealing with more than 44 ZettaByte (44 thousand billion Gigabytes, 80% of which the data will be destructured).
“The IoT is undoubtedly a driver for innovation and for the market in future years – continues Picard – but we need to analyze and fully understand the storage and management process of this complexity and range of data. In this sense, companies know what big data is but do not understand the final value and often do not have the skills to be able to fully make use of it“.
It is therefore necessary to reflect not only and so much on the final data but systematically on the entire IoT eco-system.
It must be emphasized that the value of a piece of data multiplies by at least 40% when correlated and combined with other data. The result is a proliferation of data sources and of systems that the deals must connect to obtain the information that corresponds to the consumer’s expectations.
To fully exploit this pile of data, their variety and different sources, big data management architectures are needed that are flexible, scalable, secure and efficient: from here the need for enterprise data hub (EDH) to exploit the opportunity from this revolution in the sector, incorporating these new information and system sources, and different channels, managing to increase customer involvement, optimize the offer and improve forecasts and merchandising.
In fact, one of the keywords to take into account when developing the next generation of IoT will undoubtedly be the combination and analysis of different types of data from multiple essential sources, to best make use of such an integrated and complex system. This is also in consideration of the fact that, according to McKinsey estimates,
optimal joint management of Big data and IoT could bring about revenue for the market of 3.7 billion dollars by 2025.
Also, when we think of big data, we must imagine an eco-system based on several elements that need applications to function; the development of these applications responds to the vendors’ need to enter the market, trying to satisfy the final users’ requests, preferences and use. At strategic level, Picard states, in fact, that Cloudera has opted for a perfectly integrated system in terms of business and services, not just for large organizations but also for smaller companies and single users (consumers).
“In this context the infrastructures are fundamental for the implementation and support of this integrated eco-system, in response to managing this complexity. For example, let’s think of using the cloud that must reach a compromise between the market’s and vendors’ needs for storing data and the users’ requests for security, privacy and protection of data“.
Their Hub Enterprise is a single place where companies can memorize, process and analyze all their data, extending the value of existing investments and enhancing new ways to procure value and economic impact from their data. Cloudera is therefore trying to innovate by revolutionizing company data management, using the first unified platform for Big Data.
Emma Pietrafesa
