Hybrid Cloud For Dummies

Managing Big Data in the Cloud

Perhaps you’ve heard of the term big data? It’s getting a lot of attention recently because of the ongoing need to process increasing amounts of data. The key fact about big data is that it exists at the tipping point of the workarounds that organizations have historically put in place to manage large volumes of complex data. Big data technologies allow people to actually analyze and utilize this data in an effective way.

Master data management (MDM)

MDM is a technique that helps companies establish consistent and accurate definitions of data across their IT assets. It is about breaking down data silos to reach a single version of the truth. For example, you might have multiple systems in your company, each containing customer information. But what is a customer? In the pharmaceutical industry, in one system, a customer might refer to a physician. In another system, it might be a group practice. In yet another system, it might be a hospital that buys drugs in bulk. So, if you’re mapping this data together, you need to understand what you’re calling a customer or else you’ll end up with data that doesn’t make any sense when you go to analyze it. That’s what master data is all about.

Big data characteristics

Big data generally has three characteristics:

Volume: Big data is big in volume, and although the word big is relative here, currently we’re talking ...