I've just done the editorial in the City AM Big Data supplement and thought you might like to read it

1. AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET
From hindsight to foresight What does it mean to you?
We look at how big data What is big data and how
can offer new insight can it help your business?
No. 1 / Feb. ’12
BIG DATA A
SPECIAL
REPORT
ON MANAGING
YOUR DATA
TURN YOUR DATA
INTO INSIGHT PHOTO:SHUTTERSTOCK
Realise the value: Know how to manage your data,
and what you can gain from it

2. 2 · FEBRUARY 2012 AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET
CHALLENGES
Big data is certainly the topic du jour in the business and technology
media, dividing critics and inspiring contradictory opinions. Dismissed
by some as old hat, and hailed by others as a revolutionary new business
WE RECOMMEND
tool for competitive advantage. So who’s right? Jacqui Taylor
CEO, Flying Binary
PAGE 6
‘It is my firm belief
that data is the key to
Indentifying what big solving some of the
biggest problems that
we face in business,
across industry and
data means to you
efining Big Data aspect of big data to the detriment but they must not distract business
on our planet’
D
is easier said than of the more business critical fea- leaders from the essential question We make our readers succeed!
done! ture — the opportunity to unlock for enterprises; how do you realise
Firstly, it doesn’t actionable insight. the insight from your big data? BIG DATA, 1ST EDITION
FEBRUARY 2012
help that there are So back to the original question, More technology initiatives fail
multiple defini- is it a revolutionary new business than succeed, so realising that val- Managing Director: Chris Emberson
Editorial and Production Manager:
tions emanating tool for competitive advantage? ue will require old school change Faye Godfrey
from analysts and solution pro- Well, the ‘big’ of big data cer- management practices and the Business Development Manager:
Hannah Butler
viders, keen to catch the wave tainly isn’t new, as enterprises following questions may help.
of this trend. The name, big data have long recognised the value of How can you embed insight in- Responsible for this issue:
doesn’t do itself any favours, em- storing every piece of information. to your culture so that it is at the Project Manager:
Gordon McCracken
phasising the volume aspect of So what about the analytics? Larg- heart of every decision? How can Phone: 020 7665 4401
data, when other features, such as er organisations have been using Caroline Boyd you create a top-down data cen- E-mail:
Head of Research and Strategy, gordon.mccracken@mediaplanet.com
the nature of that data, are just as data mining and business intel- Big Data Insight Group tric organisation? How can you get
important. Moreover, the volume ligence tools effectively for some the information to the right peo- Distributed with: City AM
Print: City AM
argument is largely subjective; time, but the costs were for many lower costs. This, combined with ple so they can act on it in a time-
what’s big to one organisation is prohibitive and the focus was of- the explosion of information in en- ly fashion? How can business and Mediaplanet contact information:
Phone: 020 7665 4400
not necessarily big to another. ten reactive rather than proactive. terprises, is allowing organisations IT leaders work together to plan, Fax: 020 7665 4419
to analyse and uncover new pat- manage and realise the value of E-mail: info.uk@mediaplanet.com
How do you know if you have What’s changed? terns, and leverage insight in a way big data? With thanks to:
big data? Data evolves from something that they couldn’t do before. The journey to insight is fraught
Some say that an organisation 2 you have to cope with, to with risk. But placing business ob-
1 has a big data problem when something you can compete with. Don’t lose focus on jectives at the heart of every deci- Mediaplanet’s business is to create
their data is beyond their ability to New tools and technologies have realising value sion will help keep your big data new customers for our advertisers by
manage. But this definition focus- made it possible to process huge Debates over definitions are venture on track, and ensure you re- providing readers with high-quality editorial
es too much on the ‘management’ amounts of information at much 3 certainly attention grabbing, alise the value of your big data.
content that motivates them to act.

3. Mind the Gap in the Your Big Data Strategy
O rganisations are struggling to cope with the volume, variety, velocity, and complexity of modern
data. Big Data is a big challenge. It is costing more money and demanding more resources, but there
is an opportunity too. Big Data can add incremental revenues and deliver a crucial competitive edge.
The Era of Big Data
Operational DBMS Advantages
We are addicted to, and dependent on, an exponentially
increasing amount of data; everything from internet text,
search indexes, call records, medical records and e-commerce
– allowing users to spot trends and understand what’s
and more. We need it to make decisions fast, deliver effective happening – in real-time
customer service, and satisfy regulators. In short, we can’t do
business without it.
data into a single database
A decade ago, managing data was much less of a challenge. It Reduce IT effort by simplifying the process of expanding
was more structured, easier to categorise and was often cross- and operationalising new data sources and attributes
referenceable. Today, the game has changed, and managing Makes it easy for organisations to run their core
information in our ‘Big Data’ world is an increasing challenge.
operations on Big Data
Now we are assailed by reams of unstructured and semi- Enables organisations to take advantage and eliminate
the risks of the era of Big Data
Mobile devices, social networks, logs, emails, tweets, video,
and sensors are all now part of the information ecosystem.
This is having a major impact; not just on volume, but on
variety and velocity of data management. Traditional relational databases are great solutions for data
All the while, the costs of managing, extracting, transforming, data. However, these technologies struggle with data that is
loading, and storing this massive amount of data are eating up complex in nature and hitting organisations in high volume in
IT budgets at a time when controlling operational expenditure multiple formats.
is paramount.
This new data paradigm results in the need for new databases
Big Data Applications that enable organisations to operationalise their Big Data.
Imagine a world where applications
1. The ability to unify data from all sources without forcing
to leverage Big Data to understand data modeling, transformation, schema normalisation, or
the hassles of data management and integration
of risk. Healthcare organizations can 2. The functionality to easily add, update and expand
achieve better insight into disease information, change attributes, and continuously improve
trends and patient treatments. Public the data by capturing record sets and queries
sector agencies can catch fraud and 3. The ability to support mission-critical applications with
other threats in real-time. These are the highest scalability, performance, government grade
real, global applications being used security, back-up, and disaster recovery
today with Big Data. But how did 4. The power to perform iterative, ad-hoc queries on the
they get there? full database in real-time, eliminating the need for pre-
Organisations shouldn’t have to compromise on the data
available for business decisions. Applications should be These capabilities make it easy and cost-effective to both
capable of handling any data, at any volume, in any structure operationalise Big Data and run core operations on Big Data
in real-time. This is at the heart of a Big Data Application. Applications.
Big Data Applications address 21st century issues, enabling
organisations to access all their data, structured or
unstructured in real time. and unstructured data into a single database allows
organisations to turn their ever-growing volumes of data into
The biggest challenge facing organisations trying to build
these applications lies with the approach. A 21st century to-market advantage, as well as new revenue streams and
problem requires a 21st century solution. business models.
Find out why organisations choose MarkLogic to power mission-critical Big Data Applications.
Call +44 203 402 3619 Email sales@marklogic.com Visit www.marklogic.com
MarkLogic UK | One Kingdom Street | Paddington Central | London W2 6DB

4. 4 · FEBRUARY 2012 AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET FEBRUARY 2012 · 5
NEWS
TURNING DATA Competition
INTO INSIGHT
JACQUI TAYLOR ON BIG DATA
drives big data Jacqui Taylor
CEO,
Flying Binary
It is still early days for big systems to finally work at the speed
data but experts believe and depth required to make sense
gaining a competitive of the vast reservoirs of data sitting
■ Question: What is big data “We’re now entering the era of hindsight to foresight. Business- advantage is shaping up to on corporate servers as well as in-
and why is it an issue now? the internet of things,” he says. es want to know more than what be a key driver for longer formation speeding through their
■ Answer: With the advent of “Machines and sensors are happened in the past, and why. term adoption. systems live, in real time.
social media and the ‘internet now all connected with com- They want access to what is hap-
of things’, companies now puter systems and creating data. pening right now, why it is hap- Getting an edge
have far more data moving When you add the vast amount pening and have suggestions as NEWS According to Alys Woodward, “It is my firm belief that data is
at higher speeds which they of data of varying velocities and to what can be done to capitalise For most companies the question Programme Manager for Europe- the key to solving some of the
need to interrogate to make varying types that are passing on it. of what to do about big data is not an business analytics at IDC, this biggest problems that we face in
the best decisions. through company systems, you The key to success in making a new one, they have been wonder- has encouraged some early adop- business, across industry and on
can see how we have entered the sense of the growing masses of ing if there were insights in their ters which, in turn, is beginning our planet.
Data just keeps on getting bigger days of big data. data is not to just marvel at the data warehouse for quite some to prompt others to investigate In the same way that the in-
and bigger. In the past, compa- “Businesses know that they can terabytes a business can now time. The trouble is, the technolo- the technology. troduction of cloud computing
nies only had what was entered get a competitive edge from under- mine and look for insights, it is gy has never been available at the “The main early adopters are created a similar buzz over the
into their systems and then standing the data they have stored more about the detail. right spec at the right price. the big, well known brands, par- last couple of years, big data, like
stored on their servers. or can get access to. This means “Businesses have often All-in-one data warehousing ticularly in America,” she says. cloud, will prove to be a game
Then came the internet, which we’re seeing an increasing number thought that the more data you and business intelligence sys- “They’re looking to mine their changer for those that ignore the
provided a new channel of infor- of organisations using the latest can crunch in real time, the bet- tems used to be the main choice data warehouses and use tech- hype and use the technology to
mation to tap into. This gave rise technology to turn all that data in- ter, but what you really need is available to companies. Today nologies, such as Hadoop, to solve real world problems.
to social media and millions up- to insights that they can act on and focus,” says Prentice. there are specialist providers make sense of unstructured data Technology of any kind at its
on millions of concurrent con- which nobody else has access to.” “The really critical factor is you whose technology can offer the online, such as conversations on best is an enabler but it is nev-
versations. Brands are keen to can’t just go through a load of da- quickest retrieval, loading, cap- Twitter and Facebook. er about the technology itself; it
utilise these in the hope of un- Front foot ta and hope some great piece of ture and analysis of information. “As they’ve done this, their is about what we can achieve by
covering popular sentiment for These new tools are so powerful inspiration will pop out at you. Blending these best of breed competitors are now fearing leveraging the best of what we
their goods and services. that Prentice believes the field The number one priority is to de- solutions is enabling big data they’re falling behind. They know build. We now have tools that can
At the same time, it is not just of business intelligence, which cide what insight or what data there’s a mass of data they could blend different data sources from
people generating data, sensors has been a staple practice among would make a different to an or- be learning from, but it’s not un- the silos littered across a com-
are too. They are being placed in most companies, is moving from ganisation if you had it. You’ve got til a competitor makes the jump pany with data from the social
everyday situations, from railway to know what you want to know.” that they do. In fact, sometimes networks to generate insights in
points to delivery vans, to auto- Steve Prentice, Prentice believes that compa- a competitor may not have made hours not years. Delivering the
Research Fellow,
matically capture data and trans- Gartner nies realising the value of data the leap into big data but a brand results to individual stakehold-
mit it to a company and its em- and the insights it can provide, if has fallen behind in market ers using a self service model,
ployees, as well as other machines. interrogated in the right way at share. It realises getting new in- with mobile capability, will cre-
It means, for the first time, the right speed, means that the sights from the data it has stored ate a level of engagement never
companies are not only tasked area of big data is not yet a ‘tip- and the vast amount of informa- before possible.
with making sense of data cre- ping point’ but is most definitely USING BIG DATA tion available online is the best All this without the huge cost
Companies are using
ated by customers and leads but at a ‘turning point.’ insight obtained from way to get back its edge.” and months of delay that building
also objects, explains Steve Pren- big data to improve Alys Woodward,
a traditional business intelligence
tice, Research Fellow at analyst SEAN HARGRAVE their business Programme Manager for European SEAN HARGRAVE solution normally demands.”
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
firm, Gartner. info.uk@mediaplanet.com business analytics, IDC info.uk@mediaplanet.com

5. 6 · FEBRUARY 2012 AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET
INSPIRATION
NEWS IN BRIEF
Big data: A
billion pound
opportunity
Big data has been
simmering away for the
past couple of years but
2 it could start to come
to the fore this year,
analyst firm Deloitte is
predicting.
As a progression from classic
business intelligence big da-
ta has been on the radar for en-
terprises but now Jolyon Bark-
er, the global lead for the firm’s
BIG DATA, BIG BUSINESS Technology, Media and Tele-
1. EMC’s Mark Sear likens big communications Industry divi-
data to diamond mining
2. The stars of The
sion, is predicting the technolo-
Inbetweeners movie. Producers gy is about to become the norm,
used big data technology rather than the exception.
when deciding whether to
make the movie or not “So-called ‘big data’ projects
3. Big data is becoming more had a total industry revenue of
important in the health sector only £65 million in 2009,” re-
PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK
1 3 flects Barker.
“However, 2012 will see 90
Personalisation:
per cent of Fortune 500 com-
panies kick off a data-related
initiative, which will boost the
industry’s revenue to between
£650 million and £1 billion.”
The goal of big data
■ Question: If big data is decide whether or not to make a
Gaining pace
“Acceptance of big data is still
in its infancy, mostly used for
meteorology and physics sim-
ulations, but interest is gain-
ing pace. Nevertheless, as da-
happening now, or is about ‘The irony of big data movie. ta warehouses start to over-
to, what insights are being is that you can take “They actually picked up sen- flow and as the need for more
offered? timent and the buzz around the relevant and timely analysis
■ Answer: We’ve yet
terabytes of data television show to predict how begins to put strain on tradi-
to reach mass adoption and then come up many DVDs of the series they tional analytics tools, the in-
but early indications of with a small gem were likely to sell,” says Sear. dustry cannot afford to get
personalisation is the, “They then further analysed carried away with the ‘big’
perhaps ironic, first which makes the sentiment towards seeing a full in big data; it needs to main-
advantage of big data. technology wonderful length film and estimated how tain its focus on extracting
Mark Sear for personalisation’ many DVDs they would sell. The insights that help to improve
Technical Evangelist, EMC results were positive enough to decision-making and busi-
CHANGE encourage them to make a movie, ness outcomes.”
In use, big data is turning out this is an area where I think some patients. That way, precise doses which was a huge success.”
to be the equivalent of diamond of the most interesting break- can be established and the im- Key driver
mining, according to EMC’s Tech- throughs will be. There’s already pact of one drug on, or over, an- What’s next? According to Deloitte’s re-
nical Evangelist, Mark Sear. You an online service that will anal- other can be monitored better. In the near future, Sear predicts search, internet companies
shift tonnes of soil to find a tiny yse your saliva and then tell you insurance companies will be us- have led the way with explor-
gem; and therein lies the para- which conditions your DNA sug- Forecast planning ing big data techniques to compet- ing big data, but the sectors
dox of big data. The data may be gests you are most likely to suf- While it is early days for big data, itively price policies for individu- that are likely to follow include
big but more often than not, the fer from. It also gives lifestyle ad- Sear reports that the news event als. This is likely to start through the public sector, financial ser-
insight may appear tiny in com- vice on getting out of the ‘at risk’ of Whitney Houston’s death was tracking boxes which can be add- vices, retail, entertainment
parison. However, that is the goal groups. It’s using interrogation used by a network entertain- ed to cars to monitor performance. and media. This could trigger
Sear believes early adopters are of massive databases to give you ment company to predict spikes Alternatively, the data could also a talent shortage with up to
already pioneering towards and a personal insight into your DNA, in traffic for her content. They be used to guide local authorities 190,000 skilled professionals
which will become the norm in and then combining that with took the buzz around social me- to improve traffic management by needed to cope with demand
years to come. another database on preventa- dia to establish which audio and analysing traffic flows. in the US alone over the next
tive, healthier lifestyle advice.” video files it should cache at local Additionally, information, five years.
Putting it into practice While this is already happen- nodes around the world to stop such as reports of many vehicles The key driver, the firm
“The irony of big data is that you ing, Sear believes that in the fu- its central network from being applying their brakes sharply, found, has nothing to do with
can take terabytes of data and then ture doctors will use similar overwhelmed. could be used to forewarn of po- the technology but solely the
come up with a small gem which techniques to personalise treat- Similarly, the producers of The tential accident black spots be- insights and competitive ad-
makes the technology wonderful ments to patients through big Inbetweeners movie used big da- fore a person is injured. vantage it can deliver.
for personalisation,” he says. data systems knowing a person’s ta technology to measure senti-
“We’re already seeing great ev- full medical history which it can ment on social media sites, no- SEAN HARGRAVE SEAN HARGRAVE
idence of this in healthcare and compare against other similar tably Facebook and Twitter, to info.uk@mediaplanet.com info.uk@mediaplanet.com

6. BIG DATA
ANALYTICS
2012
Delivering Business Value
from Big Data
20 JUNE
HOTEL RUSSELL//LONDON
Big Data – The Next Frontier in Innovation and Competition
The conference that will bring together the senior
business and technology leaders
who are shaping the future of Big Data.
For sponsorship or delegate enquiries please contact Steve Richardson
on 0161 830 2142 or email on steve.richardson@whitehallmedia.co.uk
www.bigdataanalytics.co.uk www.whitehallmedia.co.uk