In recent years, more and more companies are able to collect large amounts of data in real-time from an increasing number of sources. But are these organizations really leveraging that real-time data to gain a competitive advantage?
Having the large amount of data that big data provides dumped into your organization’s systems is one thing, but being able to store, analyze and visualize that data in real-time is something else entirely. More and more organizations need to have real-time information to fully understand what is happening within their organization.
What are the benefits and drawbacks you can expect from processing this real-time data from big data?
Advantages of real-time data analysis from big data
Organizations capable of processing data in real-time find that their investment has paid off when they experience situations such as the following:
- IT is freed from an important workload: this translates into significant cost savings and a boost to the performance of the professionals in this Department, who instead of spending their time answering queries can deal with more important issues strategic. While implementing real-time data analysis tools can be expensive, over time it is synonymous with lower costs.
- Customer service is visibly improved: the monitoring that results from real-time data processing enables the organization to become proactive and prevent future errors and problems. In addition, it is easier for them to tailor their proposals to the real needs of the customer, who notices how their shopping experience improves, leading to an increase in sales and a boost to the loyalty index.
- The risk is minimized: processing and analyzing data in real-time makes it possible to identify any anomalies or errors instantly. Discovering and understanding these failures as they occur helps companies react quickly, thereby mitigating the effects of any operational problems and preventing their spread.
- Trends are more easily discovered: variations in demand are registered as soon as they are detected, promoting the necessary actions to avoid losing alignment with market developments. This valuable information is not translated into accurate decisions that guarantee adaptation to the client’s needs at all times.
- More advanced fraud detection: just as the appearance of various changes indicates the beginning of a trend, real-time data processing helps alert you to the signs that fraud is about to occur. The advantage is that this immediacy allows measures to be taken in time to stop the action or limit the damage that it could cause. Among the industries that have benefited the most from this capacity are organizations in the financial and insurance sectors.
- Competitor monitoring: Competitor analysis interpreted in its most advanced version, when carried out by processing data in real-time, is the only way to stay one step ahead of rival companies. The instantaneous knowledge of changes in their strategies or variations in their prices allows them to readjust their own, never losing their position in the market.
- Also Read: Data Strategy Trends For 2021 Everyone Need To Know
Challenges of big data real-time data analysis
While the benefits of real-time data analytics are very difficult to beat, especially when it comes to working with big data, it is also true that it is not within the reach of any organization.
In order to experience the advantages it provides, you must first be able to overcome challenges such as:
- Cultural changes: the use of knowledge in real-time requires a different way of working. It is necessary to introduce variations in processes and approach and to ensure that all business users are comfortable working in a data-driven organization, are prepared for it, and have the necessary tools.
- Investment in infrastructure: neither Hadoop nor many of the technology solutions on the market are ready to work with real-time data. It takes a special computing power in addition to certain attributes that are not so easy to find, nor are they within the budget of all companies.
