Whether we like it or not, we live in a globalized world, where people are communicating with one another on all kinds of platforms, from mobile to social networks. More important than communication is, for companies, producers and manufacturers all over the world, the fact that these people are consumers. Working with the big data generated by the behavior of these consumers in the online environment is a great challenge that large companies such as Microsoft intend to tackle in order to provide their clients with better software products.
Freedom of data processing
One of the most important aspects of big data is the ability of processing this data in any way businesses see fit. While the use of tools such as Excel, SQL and SharePoint provide Microsoft clients with great tools in processing data, more is needed. For this reason, Microsoft has run various tests on the ability to process data, using a new type of system called Isotope, which is a port of Hadoop to Windows Server.
Predicting marketing behaviors
The role of such a system is to provide businesses with the needed tools for predicting the online and offline consumer behavior for millions of people. If this sounds massive, it should, because this is what big data platforms operate with. The new system developed by Microsoft intends to make order in chaos, and offer much better prediction models, as well as reduced time cycles for obtaining palpable results.
Big data is big math
The manner used by Microsoft for clearing the skies in how big data can be used efficiently by businesses was born from a mathematical approach. Collecting big data is one thing, followed by the next logical step: processing data. For this, a large capacity of calculating mathematical prediction models is needed, which is why the new tools that are developed by Microsoft focus on offering clients access to tools that use an immense calculating power.
To the cloud
Cloud computing has become quite a buzz term during recent years, due to the increased need of companies to process large chunks of data, without investing millions of dollars in hardware. Microsoft is up for the challenge and the tests operated on Windows Azure have showed that storage capacities for big data, as well as the speed of processing data are greatly increased.
A new challenge for IT departments
In order to new technologies to work, IT departments need to update their skills and their approach as well. One of the greatest challenges is the ability to focus on creating an enterprise network capable of concentrating the collecting and processing data power from devices that are not all located in the same place. Especially for companies that conduct their businesses from places scattered all over the world, this is a very important aspect.
The final goal is to transform big data into information that can be used for further actions. By understanding consumer behaviors, in large numbers, companies can create palpable marketing strategies for the future.