It is easy to think that Big Data is all about having access to a huge sum of information, as the name implies.  While it certainly is that, the key for business is that Big Data is about harnessing the right data sources.  By aggregating data and analysing averages in a meaningful way, it is possible to gain insights that are significant for your own unique decision making.

The technology sector loves its buzz words and Big Data is no exception.  Sure, there’s big business in putting numbers to use, but it’s easy for many SMB companies to see “Big Data” as over and above anything they might find useful.  However, Big Data can be boiled down into a concept that more succinctly resonates with decision makers; Business Intelligence.

Every organisation has the ability to tap into vast amounts of data.  Their own systems run databases full of customer and financial information.  Other sources such as log files or sensor data can also be of interest.  This information when mined, can tell a story.

When juxtaposed and coupled with other data sources such as consumer activity, insight into competing brands or market share, social network feeds, digital traffic, crawl data and mapping statistics (to name but a few) the story can begin to tell a predictive tale.  Refine with graphical representations of the data you’ve mashed together and suddenly you have a powerful way of viewing the past – and perhaps peeking into the future.

Being ahead of the curve and being able to predict trends by analysing past performance is a challenge that when mastered, can reward organisations with success.  “Big Data” is a calculated way of providing the sort of insight that can help business achieve this goal.

Power players such as Microsoft are driving to deliver powerful business intelligence to companies of all sizes.  For example, Power BI for Office 365 is set to deliver easy to master solutions for functional business intelligence, specifically targeting business owners who are looking for departmental insight into finance, sales & marketing, operations, logistics and human resources.

Harnessing SharePoint to deliver powerful BI solutions can help your organisation:

• Drive better and more informed financial decisions
• Achieve clarity and improve sales and marketing performance
• Expose opportunities to optimise logistics and operations
• Monitor and report on KPIs and metrics across all divisions of the organisation

If you’d like to know more about unleashing the potential of analytics and gaining your own Business Intelligence engine, call our SharePoint experts to discuss your requirements further.