Big Data Revolution

Introduction

STORYTELLING

Stories make for powerful communication, and this book is a compilation of the stories, patterns, and methods that we have seen over the last decade, since we’ve been focused on this emerging phenomenon: Big Data. The stories are based on true events but do not always include actual names, events, or circumstances.

These stories are meant to illustrate the challenges and possibilities present with the advent of big data, based on what we have witnessed. Our belief is that such stories provide the best way to learn about how other business leaders both responded to external change and in some cases caused disruptive change within their respective industries. We hope that they will provide a source of inspiration, courage, and know-how, so that you can embrace big data as a means of inciting a revolution within your organization.

OBJECTIVE

The target audience of this book ranges from the entrepreneur, to management in established enterprises, to those who are merely curious about the implications of big data in their own lives. This book is intended to provide ammunition for breaking down the barriers that often exist between those who manage data and those who manage people. Data is the new intellectual property. It can be harnessed for advantage or ignored at peril.

For those who would prefer to remain working in silos, where data analysis and decision-making is divorced, this book will make for uncomfortable reading. Organizations that do not manage ...