If a company can collect enough relevant data, modern-day analytical techniques can – theoretically at least – turn that data into useful information and insights to enhance its business operations.
The catch is that collecting the right kind of data is all too often a daunting task.
With data scattered all over the place, the manager responsible for the data project has to convince different users within the company to pitch in.
Hence, the success of any Big Data project hinges on devising attractive applications to incentivize other departments to help collect data, Che Pinjue, data specialist and partner of venture capital fund Sequoia, wrote in his Hong Kong Economic Journal column.
As they say, garbage in garbage out.
All employees of a company should be aware that they are collectively responsible for ensuring the quality of data, Che added.
While it takes lots of time and human resources to collect data, as the business evolves, data collected can become obsolete before they can be used at all.
This is the frustrating part of running a Big Data project, he said.
Still, the ownership of data and the capability of mining them will be a huge edge in this Big Data era.
That is one reason why behemoths like Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent are in such a strong position in their businesses.
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CG