How do Chinese companies cope with the advent of the big data age?

Last year, Bill Franks, chief analyst at Teradata's Global partnership program, saw big data as not a commercial package, but an important tool to change many industries around the world, and the main purpose of the book, "Harnessing Big Data", was to remind the public The big data age really has come.

Obviously, the big data is not a change, but it is still in a steady quantitative stage. In a sense, Teradata Company's performance itself can prove that the industry is indeed growing, as of December 31, 2012, Teradata Company's fourth-quarter revenue for 740 million U.S. dollars, the year-on-year growth of 10%. 2012 annual revenue of 2.665 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 13%.

Bill Franks that the most difficult thing for a business is not how to choose, to implement large data analysis, large data and traditional data, the need to change the business process and culture, the forerunner will stay ahead, and follow will miss the opportunity. Now the big data hype has indeed reached the peak, but the hype below also has the existence of data value, enterprises should be sensitive to seize this opportunity.

The bubble of big data and the real value

Unknowingly, the big data boom swept across the IT industry, like all other trends, large data also exist commercial exaggeration and speculation. The 2011 HP bid was a 10.3 billion dollar takeover of autonomy, and ultimately the investment was seen as a very failed takeover. For this phenomenon, Bill Franks says the bursting of the big data bubble is a good thing.

He said, now the big data hype has indeed reached the peak, but the hype below also has the existence of data value. The hype bubble burst is a good thing, as an example of the dotcom bust of the 90 's, when massive amounts of people and money were put into the internet, a scene like today's big data. But as the dotcom bubble burst, the industry had some turbulence, but the real value of the bubble burst was that the internet eventually changed industries or everyone.

The big data boom is the same, even if the hype of the topic cools, the value of large data analysis will continue, focusing on how to take the right strategies, processes and methods to derive value from large data analysis. There should be more focus on building things, such as what investments are needed, and what skills need to be developed to implement large data applications.

He argues that some acquisitions in large data areas do have overvalued valuations, but that does not mean that such acquisitions are of no value. Almost all data has an incremental value. Although the value of the data is sometimes overrated, it can have a huge impact on the larger data as a whole.

The core of big data is not just technology

Bill Franks, who is not satisfied with the technical hurdles in the propaganda of big data, believes that more than 90% of the companies can use their 90% of their existing needs and technologies and tools to solve the big data problems now. The real problem with big data is not technical problems, but people, culture, processes, or infrastructure.

He stressed that writing "master data" this book is not to promote the Teradata, mainly to help people to face this big data era, is facing the whole industry, the public a book, also not to pass this book to pay attention to teradata own business processes or specific products, Instead, it provides a way and an idea for the overall large data.

The hardest thing, he explains, is not how you choose to do large data analysis, but what methods you can use to better play the value of large data and change its process. Compared to the traditional data, large data needs to change processes and culture, many companies are unwilling to change the traditional way, but competitors may be one step ahead to do, after a few years to follow up to do, you will miss many opportunities.

In the book "Harnessing Big Data," Bill Franks deliberately emphasized culture and philosophy, and proposed an "Analytical innovation Center" concept. He believes that relying on innovation centers, enterprises to take out a small amount of budget, human resources, technical resources, etc. to do some of the existence of certain risks and results have not yet been determined, can use the minimum cost to achieve cultural change, and thus adapt to the rhythm of the big data age.

Advice to Chinese companies

For Chinese companies just involved in the wave of big data, Bill Franks A surfing example to give advice:

"I've probably been surfing the same beach for the past 30 years. Later, as I moved to a new beach and faced some new waves, I needed to surf a new way and use a new surfboard, but because of my experience over the past 30 years, I was able to adapt to the new wave quickly. The training of personnel is also the case, in the past, there are some data analysis experience of the talent, just add some new data analysis training can be quickly started.

He also said that in the analysis of large data there is an international language that can be applied anywhere. The real difference between countries is the regulatory problem. In Europe, the United States and China have different demands on the right to privacy, the real overall analysis method and structure should be the same, but the specific analysis is based on the overall regulatory strategy.

He also stressed that domestic enterprises compared with the United States, there is a very important feature is the difference between the population base, China's consumer groups produced by this amount of data, compared with foreign countries. China should have a relatively different amount of data and complexity, Teradata can provide domestic customers with more focused data Analysis Services and solutions.

(Responsible editor: Lu Guang)