Challenges of Handling Big Data in Software Companies
Nowadays an unprecedented amount of electronic data is produced at very great speed and from a significant number of sources. There are now many new and complex types of data that software companies have to deal with ranging from share market feeds to sensory data in real time. This new production goes against the norms of traditional database systems. Novel forms of data now have to be grappled with by software companies, over and above transactional data. What big data essentially does is extract business value out of data assets. Some of the multiple data sources that pose a huge challenge for software companies these days are value, variety, velocity and volume (Xiaofeng & Xiang, 2013). What makes this variety of sources even more complex is the need to privatize customer data instead of selling it or even disclosing it to third parties. Customer data is strictly regarded as something that is private, protected and inaccessible to others. The right to go ahead and reclaim data has been lost even on social media platforms like Google and Facebook (Chen et al., 2013). This essay analyzes the different economic problems that big data poses for software companies in Australia and talks about the various ways by which postgraduate students can adapt themselves to such problematic scenarios when joining a software company for a job right after completing postgraduate studies.
Big data more often than not is all about responding to events in the present rather than in the future. Big data has to be combined with real time analytics at all times if it is to be effective in terms of its use (Marquez & Lev, 2017). If a software company undertakes a data management project for a transport company for instance, it has to analyze data in real time from the transport networks like passenger movements, road traffic volumes and bus volumes for managing traffic light timing so as to enable buses to run very closely to their timetables. However, when it comes to the real time analysis of big data, speed turns out to be a huge issue (Zhang et al., 2015). Most of the analysis is carried out offline yet insight is required in real time, that is, when the data is actually in play. When customers have to be engaged with in real time, software companies have to retrieve information from channels very quickly indeed if a call has to be transformed into a sales offer. If the company has access to what has been tweeted for instance, then the additional data may be used in the conversation over the phone with the customer (Meng & Ci, 2013).
Real-Time Analysis of Big Data
The handling of big data companies by software companies involves the recruitment of people who not only possess specialist skills but who also have a good understanding of business. Big data management can be best undertaken by a person who has a curious mind, who is capable of joining all the dots in between patterns and who is also capable of grasping technology fairly easily (Gandomi & Haider, 2015). To hire a person who has such a mixture of skills by the HR department of a software company, is not an easy task at all. It requires a good deal of talent hunting that can run into a lot of time and investment too. The main challenge lies in recruiting a person who has what may be termed as a triangle of skills, that is, a person who has the perfect combination of statistics, computer science and business (George et al., 2014). Statisticians and computer scientists can go quite crazy when it comes to summarizing data but that is not all that is requirement for the proper handling and management of big data. Insights need to be retrieved or extracted from the big data as well and for such additional insight a good understanding of the business is required (Waller & Fawcett, 2013).
The use of big data tools is something that is still very complicated. While some software engineers and developers have mastered the use and application of big data tools at a very early stage it will take at least three to four years more before the use of big data tools becomes something that is commonplace (Sagiroglu & Sinanc, 2013). Most business enterprises including software companies lack the skills that is needed to handle big data in a successful manner. It is believed that in course of time a number of off shelf applications shall be developed for very specific verticals, with the first of these already beginning to show signs of emerging (Kitchin, 2014). There aren’t any off shelf tools or drag and drop solutions that are capable of delivering big data outcomes to any business in a strategic manner. If any big data solution is to be delivered today, what will be required is a talented team comprising of software developers, data scientists and machine learning experts who can successfully work together in a business like fashion and for a business agenda. Software companies can definitely increase competition in the market by investing in big data approaches at present. The skills shortage will continue to exist and custom developed applications only shall provide authentic and strategic business value (Hazen et al., 2014).
Recruiting Specialists for Big Data Management
A number of software companies have focused on simplifying big data systems in the last couple of years in order to be able to handle big data for business in a successful manner. New technologies are being invested in and the duplication of systems as well as procedures is being reduced. This includes decommissioning older systems of big data management (Kwon et al., 2014). The challenge that lies before software companies when it comes to the successful management of big data for business is that before the arrival of big data, what companies invested very heavily in was the process of data warehousing, something that did not require the deployment of skills and sophisticated techniques or business acumen in the same way that big data management does (Lee et al., 2014). A substantive investment was also made in techniques that shape data for the purpose of enhancing reporting. Existing information assets now have to be decommissioned by software companies in order to pave the way for big data creation. If a wealth of big data has to be created, then the older information and data systems cannot be allowed to continue, although the management of such information systems was a lot more logical and easier than what the management of big data is (Hashem et al., 2015).
Uploading big data to the cloud system for its proper management is something that also poses quite a challenge to software companies these days. Big data essentially involves procuring all data in business and then linking this data together for the purpose of retrieving information. This could imply terabytes of data, the uploading of which to the cloud system can prove to take a very long time especially when the dataset is changing at a very rapid pace. The rate at which data is changed is something that makes it tough to upload data to the cloud system in real time (Zaslavsky et al., 2013). Of course the entire information system is one that can be designed in a way that it is able to reside in cloud instead of uploading big data in real time to cloud. If the information system is not able to reside in cloud then it will be tough to get information in as well as out in a fast enough manner. Services like Amazon’s A3 and Microsoft’s Azure can be used for this purpose. However, while the possibility of designing an information system to reside in cloud remains a possibility for software companies, the fact that big data takes a long time to be uploaded to cloud is a problem that continues to exist (Mao et al., 2015).
Shortage of Big Data Skills in Business Enterprises
The handling and management of big data on the part of software companies does run into a lot of money, something that many software companies find hard to deal with, even though the Australian economy has been growing at quite a steady pace. While there are definitely mechanisms and methods that are in place for the successful management of big data and while the right skill set for handling such data can easily be recruited, doing so is going to require quite a bit of money. People who have both the IT and business skills needed to handle big data will demand a significant remuneration while the installation of tools and mechanisms needed for the adequate management of big data will require a lot of money to install as well as maintain over the long term.
For post graduate students who are looking to enter the world of software for a career, the first thing that they need to learn to combat the issue of big data problem is to acquire the business skills that is needed for the successful handling of big data. It is very clear that only IT and software related skills will not suffice for the proper management of big data. Post graduate students will have to learn to combine such skills with a good business sense or acumen in order to properly combat or address problems posed by big data management when working for a software company. It is also imperative for these post graduate students to educate themselves well enough on what big data is, how it is to be perceived and managed and what are the challenges that are likely to arise when handling big data on a large scale. For instance, such students need to be well aware of the fact that big data cannot be successfully uploaded to the cloud system and that this can take quite a bit of time. So they need to be ready with other solutions and methods when looking to upload information or data to the cloud system.
Post graduate students must understand that in order to manage big data in the right manner when working for a software company, they will have to engage in the real time analysis of such data. Big data always must be analyzed in real time, in the here and the now if it is to be comprehended and managed in the right manner. Failure to engage in any data analysis in the present moment will result in the mishandling of big data, something that can turn out to be very problematic for software companies in the long run. Once issues do start arising in big data management, it can be tough to address them so it is better not to allow such issues to occur in the first place.
Simplifying Big Data Systems
All post graduate students who are looking to work with software companies in Australia at some or the other point must understand that handling big data is a huge responsibility and must approach it with the right amount of seriousness. They need to be well versed with all the tools and techniques that are involved in the management of big data and be in a position to use these techniques and tools competently when they start working for a software company.
Thus, the management of big data is something that is undoubtedly problematic and challenging for the majority of software companies operating in the country of Australia. The handling of big data requires a person to possess high IQ, good logical reasoning and analytical skills as well as a great business acumen, all of which can be hard to find in one person let alone several. The management of big data by software companies also requires a very large investment and its handling has to be carried out with a great deal of care in order to avert further problems from arising out of its use. Post graduate students who want to pursue a career in software and who will need to handle big data on a regular basis will have to be aware of the many different challenges associated with the use or management of big data, must work on developing good IT skills and business skills side by side and learn to be accountable for the work that they do in order to suitably take on the challenges posed by big data in the world of software.
References
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