On average companies with more than 1,000 employees store, approximately, over 235 terabytes of data—more data than is contained in the US Library of Congress. Reams of data still flow from financial transactions and customer interactions but also cascade in at unparalleled rates from new devices and multiple points along the value chain. Companies have been making business decisions based on transactional data stored in relational databases. Beyond that critical data, however, is a potential treasure trove of less structured data: weblogs, social media, email, sensors, and photographs that can be mined for useful information. All of this new information is laden with implications for leaders and their enterprises.
It is our opinion that Big Data is the new corporate asset that will cut across business units and function much as a powerful brand does, representing a key basis for competition. Therefore, companies need to start thinking in earnest about whether they are organized to exploit Big Data’s potential and to manage the threats it can pose. Success will demand not only new skills but also new perspectives on how the era of Big Data could evolve—the widening circle of management practices it may affect and the foundation it represents for new, potentially disruptive business models.
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