Big Data Analytics is a Rocket Ship Fueled by Social, Mobile and Cloud

The rocket ship of big data analytics is launched and on its way to orbit.  Data and analytics are gaining importance with a cosmic speed.  The rocket ship is fueled by cloud, mobile and social forces. Information is a single force that gets to the foreground over time while cloud and mobility, once implemented, become less visible.  Then big data and analytics turn into a long-lasting focus of enterprises.  Information architects and analytics gurus, get ready for a much greater demand for your expertise within next several years!

Last fall, my fellow analysts (covering social, mobile and cloud) and I (big data coverage) interviewed 33 people from truly innovative companies that have implemented social, mobile, cloud and information together (a.k.a. the Nexus of Forces).  These were the brilliant innovators who were not just thinking about it, but those who have already done it.  They were not implementing each force individually, but were taking advantage of technologies in combination.  One visionary told us,

The secret sauce is optimization and trade-off to achieve the best whole, bringing it all together for a unique user experience.

Fascinating things are happening:  companies in different industries think of themselves as data companies, information quality is ripe for disruption, everybody is craving for information governance, personal analytics is born and growing quickly (my colleague Angela McIntyre predicts, By 2016, wearable smart electronics in shoes, tattoos and accessories will emerge as a $10 billion industry). Convergence of forces surfaces my favorite subjects: big data, open data, crowdsourcing, and the human factor in technology.

We will talk about Lessons Learned From Real-World Nexus Innovators in a webinar on 11 March.

Three research notes describe our findings, in this order:

1. Exploit Cloud, Mobile, Data and Social Convergence for Disruptive Innovation — analyzes how the Nexus of Forces is a platform for disruptive innovation and provides Key Insights for the entire Field Research project.
2. Focus on the Customer or Employee to Innovate with Cloud, Mobile, Social and Big Data  — analyzes how enterprises focus on the individual to capitalize on the Nexus opportunities.
3. Big Data Analytics Will Drive the Visible Impact of Nexus of Forces — analyzes how big data analytics will be key to enabling transformative business model disruption.

And here is a quote from one of the interviews about the state of big data analytics:

“It’s not just about finding the needle, but getting the hay in the stack.”

The rocket ship is launched.  Get ready for orbit.

Follow Svetlana on Twitter @Sve_Sic