Big Data Crunch Critical Input

What’s the big deal about “Big Data”?

Some will say “Big data is a combination of structured, semi structured and unstructured data collected by organizations that can be mined for information and used in machine learning projects, predictive modeling and other advanced analytics applications. “
Getting beyond these buzz words of big data and data analytics, success factors are the inputs, their significance, the interactions and how its manipulated. Taking and old school expression in the programming parlance is that garbage in equals garbage out.
 
While all systems are unique whether it’s a piece of hardware, app, manufacturing process, marketing evaluation or managing a project there are common touch points.
 

1. Know what effects your environment i.e., internal, external factors
   1. Systems engineering: resources, integration, processes, testing, quality
   2. Project planning: resources, timelines, milestones, finances
   3. Project management: communication, roles/responsibilities, risks, stakeholders
2. Know the significance of the factors that create the effect so limits can be determine for your project.
   1. Research historical data
   2. Perform analysis on competitors
   3. Use predictive tools and statistics
3. Interpreting the data should improve productivity, efficiencies, processes, quality. Leadership/stakeholders must determine the value of various output needed to be successful. (Yes, your team needs to know in the abstract what they are trying to accomplish before you start.)

There are a multitude of tools and methods to use; like Design of Experiments, 5 Whys, system modeling, Six Sigma etc. to define, measure, analyze, improve, and control the metrics for solving problems.
 
Keep an open mind as there is no magic bullet to get the answers you want at a push of a button, not matter how much data you may have acquire. You need to have the right data to measure the results that count and analyze what can help your efforts.