As software is defining the world in which we live, companies are now being able to access petabyte upon petabytes more Big Data than ever before. However, the successfulness of what companies are doing with their Big Data almost assuredly rest on the shoulders of two actions: storage + analytics (i.e. software). Specifically related to storage, software-defined storage is allowing businesses to “store smarter.” By storing smarter coupled with analyzing that stored data, businesses are producing a smarter company processes. Smarter storage = smarter company processes. Executives are taking notice of the need too…

Big Data Needs Smarter Storage

 
Let’s set the scene: necessity. Look no further than a recent Kapow-commissioned IDG Research Services report, that identifies the top Big Data pain points for the enterprise. The poll discovered that over 85 percent of business and IT leaders believe that Big Data offers “substantial value” from a decision-making standpoint. Competitive advantage, improved customer satisfaction and increased employee productivity were some of the benefits that participants mentioned.

Enter the Drama: Insufficient analyzing and consumption. Despite almost nine out of ten seeing the need, the follow-through simply is not there. 81 percent of organizations struggle with manual data aggregation and 91 percent of the workforce want IT to address this issue more effectively. For this reason, 85 percent of the respondents think Big Data should be more consumable and user-centric.

The Fix is in: Smarter storage makes smarter companies. Address the fact that storage and analysis is too cumbersome and too difficult. Case in point, last week SAP announced it was turning its HANA in-memory database and analysis software into a cloud-computing product that any customer can access. Also last week, GoodData and Box joined forces for GoodData, a Big Data cloud-based product that allows analytic and visualized insights to business data that is shared throughout an organization.

Cost-Per-__ Gets Update

 
Current marketing materials aren’t consistently and accurately able to detail the bottom-line cost-per metrics. CPI (Cost Per Impression), CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), CPE (Cost Per social Engagement) — smarter storage of Big Data allows smarter analytics and reporting by companies. The pie in the sky messaging from your marketing department doesn’t have to be the end-all-be-all anymore. Smarter is the name of the game, and businesses are starting to get the tools to take matters into their own hands.

“IT architecture will need to change to better manage the issues around data access, data security and data distribution to make big data easier to consume. Specifically, IT architecture will need to evolve to better handle the instant propagation of updates and changes, especially with changes in data sources and new types of analysis,” says Karl Ederle, CPO of Kapow Software.

Translation? Be smarter, IT. Smarter storage makes for smarter analysis, which makes for smarter companies.