Both individual enterprises and organizations are confronted with the challenges of big data. However, only the resourceful ones are overcoming the challenges. You should be one of the resourceful ones because you are about to know the challenges and with that, you will be able to deal with them. IDG enterprise data and Analytic Research now reports positive result about their survey on those using big data projects. The following have been identifies as impediments on big data;
Resistance
Could you believe that challenges associated with big data is not only from within its technological aspect? Human factor is also a significant issue. People can be a problem to it. Even though organizations often state they committed to data-driven culture, only few of them are actually efficient in in the data-driving cultural environment.
Those who are successful with the data-driven culture often point at obstacles such as either business resistance or lack of understanding, insufficient alignment within the organization, and lack of middle management adoption.
These are serious issues for organizations because for them to embrace the big data opportunity offer, many things such as in structure would need to be changed which can be tough.
In this kind of organizational change, a PwC report has suggested that for companies to improve on decision- making, they should continue to invest in creative leaders that understand data opportunities and challenges the companies businesses. Furthermore, the report suggested that to invest in the leaders begins by appointing chief data officer that oversees data initiative and usefulness within the organization. Executives and directors need to keep their heads up in overcoming the organizational challenges and embrace structure where big data helps their business to remain high within the competitive business world.
Data sourcing
Don’t forget that “variety” is one of the uniqueness of big data, hence, as unique as it is, it can also be a challenge. Big data is a constellation of many sources such as from HR, email systems, social media profiles, business enterprise applications and many more. Compiling all that can be tedious and complicating. Although, there are tools to cater for the difficulty, but many industries are still faced with the difficulties. For example, there are ETL and integration tools that are designed to help solve the problems. But, many still complain of challenges in integration problems.
But, it is suggested that to curb this menace, investment in new technology tools are good to help companies out in dealing with the integration aspect of big data.
Data source expansion
Every year, data storage is doubling. Do you think we might be able to keep up with the pace? Well, you can also think on that. A finding stated that by the 2020, the quantity of data we would have would be enough to occupy stacks of tables arranged from our planet to the moon in about 6 times.
Funny? A lot of the data we’ve got are not structured – mix of texts, tapes, video etc. and getting them can be so difficult. This is as buttressed by IDG report that says that managing unstructured data is a big challenge which rose from 31 percent to 45 percent between 2015 and 2016. Although this is becoming lesser now, we cannot neglect the fact that it is a challenge to the data world.
Curbing data storage challenge is becoming easy as new technologies are springing out to help us in that regard with tools such as Spark, Hadoop and more.
While thinking that these challenges can be curbed, we are not to forget that as our data grows, we should anticipate newer challenges.
